Thanks for this inspiring story, Shelley!
Judith


Judith Yaross Lee, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication Studies 
and Director of Honors Tutorial Studies
School of Communication Studies
Ohio University
Lasher Hall
Athens, Ohio 45701
T: 740-593-4888
F: 740-593-4810

My newest book: _Twain's Brand:  Humor in Contemporary American Culture_ <http://www.ohio.edu/people/leej/Twains_Brand.html>

> On Jul 5, 2014, at 5:51 PM, "Shelley Fisher Fishkin" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> =20
> J. R. LeMaster is best known by Mark Twain scholars for having co-edited =
> The Mark Twain Encyclopedia with Jim Wilson. But I think it=92s =
> important to recall another, less-known contribution he made to Twain =
> scholarship: he is responsible for having given readers in the =
> English-speaking world access to  an important commentary on Mark Twain =
> published in China.
> LeMaster had a long and deep connection to China that included spending =
> two years in Beijing and publishing a moving bilingual book of his own =
> poetry about China (Journeys Around China, Chinese translations by Sui =
> Gang and Hua Zhi,  published in China in 2003). But I am particularly =
> indebted to him for having restored to us a major a speech   delivered =
> in Beijing by a leading Chinese writer in 1960 to commemorate the 50th =
> anniversary of Mark Twain=92s death.
> For decades, scholars had   assumed this speech had been lost, but  Le =
> Master=92s determined searching over many years finally bore fruit. He =
> and a  Chinese scholar named Zhao Huazhi, managed to locate a copy. They =
> arranged for it to be translated into English  by Zhao Yuming and Sui =
> Gang.  Edited by J.R. Le Master, who worked with them on the =
> translation, it was published in US-China Review in 1995. [US-China =
> Review 19 (Summer 1995), pp. 11-15 as =93Mark Twain: Exposer of the =
> Dollar Empire.=94  =20
> The speech was particularly noteworthy not only because Lao She was one =
> the leading Chinese authors of the 20th century, but also because the =
> aspects of Twain=92s social criticism that he highlighted were not =
> particularly salient at mid-century in the US. Arguing that Twain=92s =
> criticism of the  =91Dollar Empire=92=94  =93has retained profound and =
> immediate significance throughout the past half century,=94 Lao She =
> asserted that =93Mark Twain=92s reprimand of the imperialist aggressive =
> powers and sympathy for the anti-colonialist Asian and African people =
> [are] especially significant.   This is the part of his literary =
> heritage we should value most.=94 But until the publication of Jim =
> Zwick=92s book Mark Twain=92s Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist =
> Writings on the Philippine-American War in 1992, this was probably the =
> part of Twain=92s literary heritage that his countrymen valued least.  =
> (Virtually the only American critics paying attention to this aspect of =
> Twain at the time Lao She made these remarks were Philip Foner and =
> Maxwell Geismar.)
>   Although Lao She=92s speech served China=92s ruling interests at the =
> time and contained some of the expected Cold War jargon, it also =
> contained some insightful readings of pieces by Twain with which =
> American readers were then largely unfamiliar. With a few exceptions =
> Twain=92s trenchant critiques of the country he loved tended to be as =
> ignored in the United States at midcentury as they were celebrated in =
> China.  =20
> Indeed, among the works Lao She mentioned in the 1960 speech was Twain=92s=
> =93Treaty with China,=94 a piece so obscure that it was not reprinted =
> from its original 1868 publication until Martin Zehr brought it to light =
> in  2010 in the Journal of Transnational American Studies =
> (http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5t02n32 =20
>             In addition to being the 50th anniversary of Mark Twain=92s =
> death, 1960 was the sixtieth anniversary of the anti-imperialist, =
> anti-missionary Boxer Uprising in China. (Lao She had written a four-act =
> play about this event titled Shen Ruan the same year that he gave this =
> speech. ) Most Americans by 1960 had long forgotten the sympathy that =
> Mark Twain had shown to the Boxers, but Lao She and his countrymen had =
> not. Lao She quotes with approval Twain=92s comment, =93The Boxer is a =
> patriot=85I wish him success. I am a Boxer myself.=94
> 
>            Lao She was president of the National Association of Writers =
> when he gave this speech. An influential novelist and dramatist, he was =
> named =93The People=92s Artist=94 and played a prominent role in the =
> Chinese literary establishment before he was purged from the Communist =
> Party and became a victim of the Cultural Revolution (It is undisputed =
> that Lao She delivered this speech. However, as I learned in 2009 from =
> Gongzhao Li, the prominent Chinese poet and scholar, Yuan Kejia =
> evidently claimed in a Chinese journal in 1985 that he was paid to write =
> this speech for Lao She to deliver, and that he was its actual author =
> despite the fact that the text continues to be widely credited to Lao =
> She in China, and appears in his Collected Works. )
>            I met J. R. LeMaster in 2006 when I gave a keynote talk at =
> an American Studies Association of Texas at Baylor. He was kind enough =
> to give me a copy of the piece that he had done so much to recover and =
> get translated and published. He and I were both   pleased that I was =
> able to include  the  Lao She/Yuan Kejia speech in The Mark Twain =
> Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Work (Library of America, =
> 2010).
>            I learned only last December, through correspondence with =
> LeMaster, of the depth of his association with Lao She=92s family.  =
> LeMaster=92s book of poetry, Journeys Around China, includes a =
> photograph of LeMaster with Lao She=92s son, Xu Yi, taken when LeMaster =
> visited him in his home.  Xu Yi was Director of the Beijing Library of =
> Contemporary Literature and spent most of his life writing about his =
> father. LeMaster wrote me that he got to know him quite well.  LeMaster =
> also directed the senior thesis of Lao She=92s granddaughter, although =
> he notes that he left Chine before she completed it.   During his stay =
> in China, LeMaster conducted interviews with half a dozen Chinese =
> writers, including =93a writer of opera who was beaten alongside Lao =
> She.=94  LeMaster wrote me that =93Lao She drowned in Lake Kunming, =
> either drowned himself or was murdered and thrown there. Xu Yi says he =
> could stand no more humiliation and took his own life.=94  LeMaster =
> noted that the interviews he conducted in China  are in the oral history =
> archives at Baylor.
>            According to LeMaster, three sets of government censors =
> refused to let three different publishing houses publish his book of =
> poems.  The version of Journeys around China that finally appeared in =
> China in 2003 omits about half of the original manuscript, including  =
> all the poems he wrote about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Although the =
> more political poems were cut by the censors, many of the poems that =
> remain are  quietly beautiful and evocative.
>            I feel compelled, on the occasion of his passing, to express =
> my appreciation for LeMaster=92s determination to share a major Chinese =
> commentary on Twain with the English-speaking world.  I am personally =
> grateful to him for having made me aware of it when he did. For =
> encountering this text help make me realize that I had been largely =
> oblivious, as a scholar, to  he global body of commentaries on Mark =
> Twain  in languages other than English.=20
>            That realization set in motion an odyssey that led me to =
> seek out writing on Twain in languages other than English for The Mark =
> Twain Anthology.  In addition to leading to my discovery that the first =
> book devoted to Mark Twain published anywhere was published in French in =
> Paris in 1884, this journey led me to uncover interesting commentaries =
> on  Twain  originally published in Chinese, Danish, French, German, =
> Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish have all engaged Twain. =
> In many cases, they had never been translated into English before.   =
> Previously untranslated texts  included essays by Nobel Laureates from =
> Denmark and Japan, by two of Cuba=92s most prominent public =
> intellectuals, by Argentina=92s most celebrated author, by another  =
> famous Chinese writer, by a major Russian poet, and by respected writers =
> from  Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Soviet Union. I had the pleasure of =
> sending a copy of the book to J. R. LeMaster not long after it came out. =
>  =20
> [For more on this topic, see my Mark Twain Anthology, and also my essay, =
> =93American Literature in Transnational Perspective: The Case of Mark =
> Twain.=94 Blackwell Companion to American Literary Studies, ed. Caroline =
> F. Levander and Robert S. Levine (2011).  Also relevant are  Selina =
> Lai=92s forthcoming book, Mark Twain in China to be published next year =
> by Stanford University Press, and a project on =93The French Face of =
> Twain=94 that Paula Harrington and Ronald Jenn are undertaking.]
> The changes in my mental map that J. R. LeMaster helped set in motion =
> have been profound. I am grateful for all he taught me.
> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =
> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D=20
> Shelley Fisher Fishkin=20
> Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities, Professor of English, and =
> Director of American Studies, Stanford University=20
> Mail: Department of English, Stanford University, Stanford, CA =
> 94305-2087
> [log in to unmask]
> https://english.stanford.edu/people/shelley-fisher-fishkin
> =20
> 
>> On Jul 3, 2014, at 4:24 PM, Kevin Bochynski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>> The following obituary appeared today in _The Crescent-News_, =
> Defiance, Ohio, and will be of interest to members of the Mark Twain
>> community. Dr. LeMaster was co-editor with James D. Wilson of _The =
> Mark Twain Encyclopedia_ published by Garland in 1993.
>> =20
>> Jimmie 'J.R' LeMaster
>> =20
>> WACO, Texas -- Jimmie (J.R.) Ray LeMaster, Waco, died Sunday, June 29, =
> 2014,
>> at his residence.
>> =20
>> He was born in Pike County, Ohio, to Dennis Samuel and Helen Algina =
> (Smith)
>> LeMaster on March 29, 1934. He attended Camp Creek Township Elementary
>> School before moving to Washington Court House, Ohio, where he =
> attended
>> junior high and high school, moving to New Boston, Ohio,in his final =
> year.
>> He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1951, and served four years. Upon =
> being
>> discharged from the Navy, LeMaster moved to Defiance, Ohio, where he =
> worked
>> in an iron foundry and attended classes at Defiance College.
>> =20
>> Upon graduation, he taught in local high schools before returning to =
> his
>> alma mater to teach in 1962, having completed a master of arts degree =
> at
>> Bowling Green State University. While working at Defiance College, he
>> received his PhD degree from Bowling Green in 1970. He taught at =
> Defiance
>> College for 15 years before moving his family to Waco to teach at =
> Baylor
>> University in 1977. When he retired from Baylor in 2006, he had taught =
> for
>> 47 years, including two years in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
>> =20
>> He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Wanda; his son, =
> Lon;
>> brother, Dennis and his wife, Karin; and half brother Tom McDowell.
>> =20
>> He is survived by his two daughters, Lisa and DeNae, as well as his =
> brother,
>> Marvin and his wife, Shirley; half brother, Richard McDowell and his =
> wife,
>> Alice; sister-in-law, Patsy McDowell; and numerous nieces and nephews.
>> =20
>> In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Wanda May =
> LeMaster
>> Service Award, c/o Michele Tinker, Defiance College, 701 Clinton St.,
>> Defiance, Ohio 43512; email address, [log in to unmask]; phone,
>> 419-783-2303.