Lorraine A. Brown
April 3, 1929 ~ February 27, 2010
LORRAINE A. BROWN, Ph.D.
Lorraine Brown, Professor Emerita of English, died on Saturday, February 27, at Virginia Hospital Center after a brief illness. She had a distinguished record of scholarship, teaching, and service at George Mason University for four decades. Perhaps best known for her work on the Federal Theatre Project of the WPA, Lorraine did extensive oral histories with veterans of 1930's pro-ductions of theatre, dance, puppetry, and music; produced four FTP festivals; and helped ensure the preservation of play scripts, "living newspapers," posters, and costume/set designs. She also studied the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) and the work of producer/director Robert Breen during the 1940's and 50's. Lorraine was an unusually gifted teacher whose students loved and admired her. She was one of the founders of Mason's degree program in Women's Studies. Deeply committed to the principle of shared governance, she was a long-time member of the Faculty Senate where her contributions included exten-sive service on its Executive Committee and on the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee. She was also a past presi-dent of the George Mason Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Lorraine is survived by her daughter, Tamara Liller; by her cousin David Lemon and his wife Janet; by Donna Lemon, widow of her late cousin, Fred Lemon; and by many nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be held at noon on Thursday, March 4th at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA. Friends/colleagues welcome. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National Museum for Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005. (www.nmwa.org)
Funeral Home:
Money & King Funeral Home
171 W. Maple Ave.
Vienna, VA
US 22180
Lorraine Brown, Professor Emerita of English, died on Saturday, February 27, at Virginia Hospital Center after a brief illness. She had a distinguished record of scholarship, teaching, and service at George Mason University for four decades. Perhaps best known for her work on the Federal Theatre Project of the WPA, Lorraine did extensive oral histories with veterans of 1930's pro-ductions of theatre, dance, puppetry, and music; produced four FTP festivals; and helped ensure the preservation of play scripts, "living newspapers," posters, and costume/set designs. She also studied the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) and the work of producer/director Robert Breen during the 1940's and 50's. Lorraine was an unusually gifted teacher whose students loved and admired her. She was one of the founders of Mason's degree program in Women's Studies. Deeply committed to the principle of shared governance, she was a long-time member of the Faculty Senate where her contributions included exten-sive service on its Executive Committee and on the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee. She was also a past presi-dent of the George Mason Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Lorraine is survived by her daughter, Tamara Liller; by her cousin David Lemon and his wife Janet; by Donna Lemon, widow of her late cousin, Fred Lemon; and by many nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be held at noon on Thursday, March 4th at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA. Friends/colleagues welcome. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the National Museum for Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005. (www.nmwa.org)
Funeral Home:
Money & King Funeral Home
171 W. Maple Ave.
Vienna, VA
US 22180
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Lorraine has always been a warm, engaging presence at Mason. She remains beloved by her students and admired by her colleagues. I was one of her students in the 80s. She shared her love of theater and inspired us while generating curiosity. I was thrilled to return to Mason in 1996 as a staff member to learn that she was here and thriving. I have had the privilege of working with her since. I count myself most fortunate. Mason is a better place for her having been part of it.
When in 1968 I joined the faculty at what was then George Mason College of the University of Virginia, Lorraine was one of the first new colleagues I met. We became fast friends, and remained so until her death. I will miss her very much.
With fond remembrances of Lorraine’s many contributions to our university community, and the world beyond, Jane Pearson
Lorraine agreed to be our “Expert Scholar” on an NEH grant awarded to the Fairfax County Library. She did a wonderful program last spring on the Federal Theater Project and helped me immensely. Her knowledge of the WPA and all it’s projects was inspiring and I am grateful to have been able to work with her and get to know her this past year.
I worked for Lorraine in the 80’sin connection with the WPA Theater Project plays. She was always very friendly and helpful, but I knew that she was expecting me to do a good job, and I always tried to make that extra effort for her. More recently she taught in the Fairfax Osher Lifelong Learning program and I enjoyed her classes tremendously. My condolences to the family. She will certainly be missed. Jane Tombes
Although I only overlapped with Lorraine for one year, even in that short time she left her mark on me. She made a new faculty member feel welcomed and appreciated, and that meant more to me than she knew. I will miss her warmth and generosity.
Lorraine’s warmth and strong character extended even beyond her professional life. I knew Lorraine for many years during the course of which she made several moves in residence — all at a point in life and career when many refuse to try something new, to deal with the work and commotion of a move. Yet Lorraine did so with a sense of adventure and purpose. I knew she had high expectations of the people she worked with – but more importantly I knew she was supportive and grateful for everyone’s efforts. She was poised and at the same time very approachable – she was a lovely lady and a friend. I am deeply sorry that she has passed but I am very grateful to have known her.
As clerk of the GMU Faculty Senate, I had the priviledge of working with Lorraine on a regular basis. She was incredible in her tireless service to the faculty. Even after I left GMU, we remained great friends. I will deeply miss my “girl’s night out” with Lorraine and Esther. Lorraine, I will always remember you with deep love and affection.
Lorraine became a mentor to me during my MFA when I was researching and writing about the Federal Theatre Project. She was always available to talk with me over the phone about the archives I combed through and pieced together to understand an event. She even mailed me a box of books on the FTP that are out of print! She truly cared for my work on the FTP and I will never forget her belief in me, her friendship and her guidance. I love her dearly and will miss her a great deal. She was a true pioneer and an inspiration.
Lorramome was very interested in the looks of her community. So much so that she paid to have flowers and shrubs planted behind her Condo Unit. I had many discussions with her and was all way impressd by her keen mind and interest. I will miss her.
Lorraine and I came to George Mason at the same time, September 1966. It has been noted that among her many positive contributions over the years since is her membership in the local chapter of the AAUP; not mentioned is her active involvement as one of the original twenty members of the chapter when it was first organized in Spring 1967. As in almost everything she did at and for George Mason, she was not only before almost everyone else but above us too in her enthusiasm and her endurance. She also excelled in perfect focus and her gravesite service this noontime was suitably quiet, noble, and brief. I hope that her family was comforted by the large measure of support shown by her colleagues and students. Finally, the conversations I heard, especially from younger voices, suggest that because of her example, there will be more like her in the University’s future. What a happy parting gift!
Dr. Brown was one of my professors at George Mason. She was able to communicate her love for the literature so beautifully–she was an extraordinary teacher.
One of the bonuses of becoming great friends with Lorraine’s daughter Tammy was that I also became a friend of her mom’s. Lorraine always treated me like one of her own despite the fact that in recent years too much time had passed since we last saw each other, and I am sorry that chance won’t come my way again. She was a lovely lady who I will remember with great fondness.
I became friends with Lorraine through the GMU Faculty Senate. She was a wonderful, supportive colleague and a dedicated friend. She will be greatly missed by all of us who knew and loved her.
May she rest in peace…
I am so sad to read this obit . Tammie please accept our deep sympathy in the passing of your dear Mother. You are in our thoughts and prayers at this time. Marge and Mel
On reading her obituary and memorial comments, it is easy to recognize Lorraine’s enthusiasms, determination and sense of justice that were apparent even a half century ago when I met her. These qualities played a significant role in the lives of many people. She was a too rare sort of person. Tammy has my deepest sympathies.
I was getting near graduation and had reached something like the end of my tether–I didn’t think I would be able to do one more critical paper without losing my mind. The winter had been cold and hard, and the government was falling apart (this was March of 1974) and I said to Lorraine, my professor for modern drama, “I don’t think I can muster the energy or the will to do one more critical paper.†She looked at me with those soft understanding eyes, and knowing that I was trying to turn myself into a writer, said, smiling, “Well, why don’t you write me a verse play, like the Yeats.†We had been studying Yeats’s verse play CUCHULAIN’S FIGHT WITH THE SEA. It was the single most glorious and saving thing any professor ever did for me, and I did write a verse play for her and it was terrible, of course, and she turned her best appreciation upon it. I later got the chance to be her colleague, and I sent students to her regularly, and later she was my daughter Emily’s teacher. As a teacher, she was the best I ever saw–she was simply brilliant in all ways, not just with the material, but with the aspects of teaching that we seldom celebrate enough. She was sly in the classroom; she got everyone involved, with an amazing artful leading-onward, using her charm and her gentle, accepting, deeply concerned curiosity about what you thought or felt. She made you feel her confidence in you; and the discussions circled the room, and even the un-inspired and thick found themselves offering opinions, ideas, thoughts about the question in hand. I once, out of my own curiosity, kept a little tally of where the questions went. The evenness of the numbers around the room was scary–somehow she’d asked each of thirteen people almost exactly the same number of questions. And the questions led to other questions, and nobody sat it out because nobody could. As her colleague I gave her each of my books as they came, and with each one I got a kindly letter of appreciation, and comments that showed how deeply she had read and understood the work. In a way, I was always writing them for her, from that nearly unreadable verse play, to HELLO TO THE CANNIBALS, the last one I wrote while working at George Mason. And I am now still writing for her. We are always writing for the ones who understood; and nobody understood more deeply than this lovely and brilliant and completely kind friend.
Tammy, Janet and I send our deepest condolences to you. My brother Fred and I have fond memories of the 3 of us growing up. Your mom and I shared some of those with each other when we talked after Fred’s passing.