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Obituary: Gary Aho, Professor Emeritus of English
Gary Aho, 83, of Amherst, professor emeritus of English, died Jan. 13.
Born in Portland, Oregon, May 27, 1935, he lived for periods of his childhood with various aunts and uncles throughout Oregon after his father was killed in a logging accident in 1937.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School in Portland, he began his studies at Portland State University, but left in 1955 to join the Army. After his discharge, he returned to Portland State on the G.I. Bill, graduating in English and education in 1959. He taught English and coached basketball at a Portland high school for one year, but left in 1960 to pursue a Ph.D in English at the University of Oregon, specializing in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic literature.
In 1964, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to Iceland to study Icelandic language and literature, research he would use for his dissertation. He received his doctorate from the University of Oregon in 1966 and joined the UMass Amherst English department that same year.
As a result of the establishment of several one-year academic exchange programs, he was able to teach English literature in Germany, London and Hawaii. He also taught short courses in Switzerland and Estonia, and led Elderhostel tours in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
His interest in Old Icelandic led him to the writings of Victorian scholar and artist William Morris, who had traveled through Iceland. Aho published the annotated bibliography of William Morris and several articles on Morris and Victorian Medievalism, and presented lectures in the United States and England. For two years he was president of the William Morris Society U.S.
He retired from UMass Amherst in 1997.
A strong runner, he and three friends ran the Newport Marathon twice, the Boston Marathon twice, and the New York City Marathon.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia, son Kriss (Cathy) and daughter Karen.
A memorial service will be held at a later time.
Donations may be made to the William Morris Society at William Morris Society in the U.S., P.O. Box 53263, Washington, DC 20009, or designated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Fund at Massachusetts General Hospital at https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate/.