Thank you, too, Alan.  Tom was gracious and learned, and I benefited tremendously from his collegiality.  At this moment I also want to thank Larry Berkove for sponsoring a panel at ALA a few years ago that publicly recognized Tom's (and Vic Doyno's) many contributions to our community--that was a poignant and well earned moment, and I'm glad that we could celebrate it with him.
Judith

On Feb 2, 2012, at 12:10 PM, Mark Dawidziak wrote:

    Thank you, Alan, for letting us know. Sad, sad news, indeed.
    Generous, gracious, welcoming, encouraging, thoughtful, helpful,
sharing . . doesn't even begin to describe Tom Tenney.
     Tom was the one who coaxed me into the Mark Twain Circle and all
but insisted I attend my first State of Mark Twain Studies conference in
1997. He'd helped me (of course) with Twain research, spending hours on
the phone, making suggestions and pointing out all sorts of wonderful
directions to follow. After a few of these conversations, he said in
that soft-spoken way (you know you can hear his voice), "You really
should join the Mark Twain Circle." When I protested that I was just a
writer, not an academic, he lured me in with: "You're just the type of
person we need in the Mark Twain Circle." I'm still not sure his
assessment was correct, but how was I not going to join after that? I
walked into the greater Mark Twain community (and it is pretty great, by
the way) because Tom Tenney opened the door, held it open, welcomed me
in and pulled me through. Forever grateful. For me, he will always
represent so much of what's so wonderful about those who share this
passion for Mark Twain.

On 2/2/2012 10:55 AM, Alan Gribben wrote:
Dr. Thomas A. Tenney (1931-2012), best known for editing the MARK TWAIN JOU=
RNAL but also recognized for his assistance to younger scholars, died yeste=
rday at 3:45 p.m. of heart failure after a brief stay in a Charleston hospi=
tal.

Dr. Tenney received the John S. Tuckey Award from the Center for Mark Twain=
 Studies at Elmira College in 2005.  He was the author of MARK TWAIN:  A RE=
FERENCE GUIDE (1977) and its various supplements, along with numerous other=
 publications.

There will be a private family service at a later date, according to his wi=
dow Margaret Tenney; no public funeral will be held.

Before his death Dr. Tenney made arrangements for the continuation of the M=
ARK TWAIN JOURNAL.

Sincerely,
Alan Gribben=


Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Honors Tutorial Studies
School of Communication Studies
Lasher Hall 113
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701

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