Jason Courtmanche

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of Jason Courtmanche, who was so instrumental in promoting Hawthorne Studies. The Hawthorne Conference he organized in Florence, Italy, in 2012 was one of the most memorable I attended. And his pioneering study of Hawthorne and religion in his How Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Narratives are Shaped by Sin: His Use of Biblical Typology in His Four Major Works (2008) influenced many whose focus was on Hawthorne’s views of God.His kindness and his sense of humor were qualities that made his presence at conferences so uplifting. He will be greatly missed.Monika Elbert I was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Jason Courtmanche on November 27, 2024, from a rare form of lymphoma. Jason was an indispensable leader in the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, helping to keep the society vibrant and sociable for more than a decade. He was generous with his time and advice and always ready to step in to help the NHS on top of the demands of his work as director of the Connecticut Writing Project, English professor, and affiliate faculty member in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. His specialty both as a teacher and scholar was pedagogy. He was, in his own words, “a teacher of teachers,” who prepared his students for their own classrooms. He brought his experience to bear in his chapter “High School-College Partnerships in the Teaching of Nathaniel Hawthorne” that appeared in Nathaniel Hawthorne in the College Classroom. His scholarly work also included How Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Narratives are Shaped by Sin: His Use of Biblical Typology in His Four Major Works. Being well-versed in the currents of Hawthorne scholarship, Jason was an active book reviewer for The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review. A generation of students, mentees, interns, and colleagues have all been meaningfully shaped by Jason’s example and care.It is difficult to encapsulate the ways in which Jason served the NHS. Having acted as treasurer and president-elect, he assumed the presidency in 2014, and after that, because we needed one, he served as treasurer again. He was the program chair for the Hawthorne in the Berkshires conference, and he organized the conference in Stowe, as well as the joint conference with the Poe and Emerson Societies in Florence, Italy.I came to know Jason through a series of conferences in Salem, Concord, North Adams, Boston, Florence, Stowe, and Kyoto. His own conferences were always beautifully organized, but if you thanked him, he would modestly say, “I relied so much on Rosemary [Fisk, the past president].” I became president following Jason, and to say that “I relied so much on Jason” is an understatement. Indeed, without his generous mentorship and friendship I would never have been able to hold the presidency or co-organize the Kyoto conference. I would contact him morning, noon, and night with questions and appeals for advice. He always answered quickly, and his advice was invariably sound. I remember going with him during the Boston MLA Conference to see the Nineteenth-Century American section of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and we went to dinner at Maggiano’s three nights that week, twice with Sam Coale. One night Sam and I were having difficulty finding stability on the ice, and Jason came from across the street and down the block to our hotel, took one of us on each arm, and guided us safely to our destination. Jason was remarkable—as a teacher, colleague, mentor, and friend—and he will be deeply missed.In honor of Jason’s many contributions and his gift for bringing together scholars and students in many different ways, we have established the Jason C. Courtmanche Memorial Travel Award. Funds will help students and early-career scholars travel to Hawthorne Society events. Contributions can be made via our website or sent directly to the treasurer.Sandra Hughes, Professor of English, Western Kentucky University Jason Courtmanche, former president of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society (2014–16), died of lymphoma in hospice on November 27, 2024. He was Associate Professor of English in Residence at the University of Connecticut, Director of the Connecticut Writing Project, and Assistant Coordinator of Early College Experience English. Jason was a member of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society Advisory Board and planner of the Florence conference (organized with the Poe Studies Association and the Emerson Society) in 2012, the North Adams conference in 2014, and the Stowe conference in 2016. He subsequently served as treasurer and secretary at the Kyoto conference (organized with the Poe Studies Association) in 2018.I remember Jason’s active and energetic presence at all our Hawthorne events. I remember his speaking with devotion of his students and with love of his family, his wife, Amy Norton, and their children, Cory and Elsa. I also remember his enthusiastically describing his reaching out to high school English teachers and their students. I was full of admiration for Jason’s extensive collaborative work. His essay on the partnership that he established with RHAM High School (“High School-College Partnerships and the Teaching of Hawthorne” in Nathaniel Hawthorne in the College Classroom) beautifully elaborates how one professor’s work with a high school English teacher can ultimately strengthen student understanding—especially, in this case, with regard to Hawthorne’s potentially difficult but importantly rewarding introduction to The Scarlet Letter, “The Custom-House.”Jason always conveyed a welcome warmth and vigor. I was always glad to see him and to talk with him. He contributed substantially to the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. Our loss of him is a great sorrow, but I find that remembering him is a great pleasure.Richard Kopley, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English, Penn State DuBois Jason Courtmanche, who served as president of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society from 2014 to 2016, passed away on November 27, 2024. Just two months after his wife’s final chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, Jason was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphoma. He is survived by his wife and two children.From 2012 to 2018, I was a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, where Jason was an associate professor of English in residence. Although I was aware of his scholarship on Hawthorne, I mostly associated Jason with the teaching of writing and K–16 partnerships. He directed the Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) at Storrs, one of the oldest sites of the National Writing Project, which focuses on improving the teaching of writing across all grade levels—the CWP’s Summer Institute, for example, is a multiweek program that brings educators together to discuss composition theory and teaching practices and develop a portfolio of their own writing, both scholarly and creative. Jason was also involved in UConn’s English dual enrollment program, and he was an affiliate faculty member in the university’s Neag School of Education.I had several occasions to work with Jason during my time at UConn. Together, we led a breakout session on the place of creative writing in K–12 English classes. I also facilitated workshops at the CWP’s Summer Institute and served as a judge for the Teacher-Consultant Writing Contest, a creative writing contest for CWP participants.But obviously, I saw plenty of Jason outside of these events. We had many enjoyable conversations in the hallways and at social gatherings about teaching, writing, and literature. He was as passionate about education as anyone I have ever met. That’s not to say that he was dull or difficult to talk to. Far from it. He was very personable—refreshingly frank and open, and it was clear that he had put some thought into just about everything that he said.Jason had a blog, The Write Space, that he maintained diligently from 2008 until his illness. He wrote hundreds of entries on teaching and writing, and I invite you to read some of them, because they’re lovely and insightful and thankfully still available to us even after Jason’s death. In one post, he talks about mentors, naming several people who helped him along the way and saying how gratifying it was for him to mentor students and young teachers in turn.When I read this post, it occurred to me that the number of students whose lives Jason positively impacted, directly or indirectly, must be enormous. He worked with over five hundred teachers in the CWP’s Summer Institute alone, each of them going on to take what they had learned from the experience and apply it to their interactions with hundreds of students. He collaborated with Tom Deans, another UConn faculty member, to establish and improve writing centers at a dozen schools in Connecticut. He organized numerous conferences, contests, and publications—all to empower teachers and students and foster their love of writing.I think of Jason as one of my own mentors, too. I learned a lot from him about teaching and writing, but the quality of Jason’s that I’m most inspired by is his commitment to service. He was an excellent teacher—he received UConn’s Alumni Faculty Excellence Award in the Undergraduate Teaching category—and an accomplished scholar but, to me, his record of service is what truly stands out. Jason had what I think of as a practical commitment to teaching and writing. He recognized just how many people he could reach and how much good he could do by being engaged in communities of teachers and students beyond the borders of UConn’s campus. I have already mentioned Jason’s leadership of the CWP, his work in the English dual enrollment program, and his long-running blog—but he also was a founding member of the MLA’s Working Group on K–16 Alliances and published in MLA’s Profession about building bridges between K–12 and postsecondary education.Personally, I find it easy and sometimes very tempting to direct all my attention and energy to my own classes and research projects. Jason is a wonderful and important reminder of the impact that we can have by looking beyond these more immediate concerns and engaging with broader communities.Erick Piller, Associate Professor of English and co-director of the writing program, Nicholls State University