Jack Murray

Jack Murray, scholar, hiker, and lover of the great outdoors, is gone. He was born at the start of the Great Depression, but thanks to a love of reading, he became the first in his family to attend college. He earned a BA in French from Wesleyan University in 1952, an MA from the University of Grenoble in 1953, and a PhD from Yale in 1957. In 1960 he was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of French & Italian at UCSB.

He eventually bought a house on Quinto Street, which he later willed to Wesleyan. “Every few years, they send someone out here to check on my health,” he would laugh. He cultivated a thriving fruit and vegetable garden there, perhaps on the advice of Voltaire, who concluded Candide with the advice “Il faut cultiver notre Jardin.”

At UCSB, Jack’s specialty was Marcel Proust, and his monumental A la Recherche du temps Perdu (Remembrance of Time Past). The past came back to seek out Jack when he was in his eighties. Jack’s father had abandoned his wife and young son when the Depression hit, leaving them to scrape by with relatives. But now, Jack was thrilled to be contacted by members of his father’s second family, who claimed him as a brother and swore that he was the image of their mutual sire.

Jack’s published work includes the books Landscapes of Alienation and The Proustian Comedy; he was a beloved teacher—his course on existentialism was a big hit, always filled to the brim—and he retired from UCSB as a full Professor in 1992. He continued to hike in the local back country well into his eighties. For his local acquaintances, Jack was a wise and witty conversationalist, a kind and supportive companion in these troubling times. He will be sorely missed! Adieu, dear friend.

A celebration of Jack’s life will be announced, and gifts in his memory may be made to the local chapter of the Sierra Club:  Sierra Club Santa Barbara-Ventura, PO Box 31241, Santa Barbara, CA 93130-1241.