Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[Henry Mills <wppdirector AT gmail.com>]

Dear Percy-L:

The following are remembrances from friends and family of John R. May, 
former Walker Percy Project board member.

His passing and contributions to Percy studies were noted on an earlier 
post to the list, where members were invited to share their own 
remembrances: 
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/2014-January/001855.html.

I hope through this archival post others might have a chance to enjoy 
reading about Jack's wonderful legacy.  I, like many, valued greatly his 
deep warmth, wisdom, and kindness to so many.

Sincerely,
Henry Mills


=================================================
JOHN R. MAY (1931-2013) - COMMUNITY REMEMBRANCES
Archived from Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home Guest Book, New Orleans, 
LA, and submissions by Percy-L members

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December 24, 2013
Jack was a loving extension of our Burvant / Pomarede family. He was 
everpresent as a brother in the early lives of Shirley and Bob Burvant, 
Urban and Don Pfefferle. We enjoyed him as a brilliant Jesuit, a loving 
brother and uncle; and in his perfect union with Janet. He and Janet 
never stopped smiling together. Their union is one of incredible love 
and devotion, an example to all. Jack, you are missed dearly; our love, 
prayers, and thoughts are with his children and family.

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December 25, 2013
Today is Christmas Day
and what a Christmas For Jack being both with Jesus and with dear Janet!

I shall greatly miss my Jesuit High teacher, my patient and my friend.

I shall keep Jack and his entire family in my prayers.
~
Boyd E. Helm, M.D.,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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December 25, 2013
Johnny May was my junior year teacher at Jesuit High School in 
1957-1958. We addressed him as Mr. May but as classmates he was Johnny 
May. This was a moniker of respect and admiration. I loved my days at 
Jesuit and Johnny May was one of my most loved teachers and memories.

You have my sympathy but please know that I have thought of Johnny May 
fondly over the years.
~
Ken Adolph

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December 25, 2013
Jack May officiated at my own wedding and my brother Dick's as well. He 
was an inspiration to me and I continue to consider him a major force in 
my own direction and growth. His sense of humor is forever memorable as 
well.
~
Jack Roniger
New Orleans

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December 25, 2013
Jack was my "spiritual father", as we used to call in those years the 
priests that helped us on our spiritual journey. That was the time I was 
a Jesuit scholastic at Spring Hill College. Jack was a kind and 
compassionate man. I remember him fondly.
~
Carlos de la Cruz, S.J.

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December 26, 2013
Our condolences on the passing of Daddy Jack. He is the first cousin of 
Julie May Carrigee, James G. May, and Geraldine May Davis. His father 
Henry Greve and our father Louis M. May were brothers.
~
Gerald May
Metairie, Louisiana

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December 26, 2013
Jack was on my dissertation committee years ago and an enormous help in 
my early years of teaching. I remember when he first arrived at LSU and 
was head of Freshman English, long before he would take over the 
chairmanship of the entire department. He was a delightful, wonderful 
man, a dear friend and brilliant scholar. I am deeply saddened to learn 
of his death. I send my condolences to his children and family. Rest in 
peace, dear friend.
~
Stella Nesanovich,
Lake Charles, Louisiana

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December 28, 2013
Dr. Jack May was a person whom all others should seek to emulate. As 
long as I'd known him, it was clear that he had lived as an example of 
academic excellence and perfect human kindness. He was a driving force 
for molding me and, I'm sure, countless others into responsible, 
deep-thinking scholars. With Jack, a student could be sure to evolve and 
move through the cloistered halls of theory and polemical discussion, 
while not losing sight of the joys of film, literature, and the real 
reasons why we were drawn to the humanities in the first place.

More importantly, he was a good man. I'd come to count on his smiling 
face, his kind words, and his wisdom to brighten up the corridors of 
Allen Hall whenever I went in for his advice. I was also inspired by the 
dedication he showed his family when I was his student and afterwards. 
The slide show at his services reminded me of those days and made me 
truly grateful that I had known him. Thinking about Jack and talking 
with my colleagues from the English Department about his life was truly 
uplifting, despite the reasons why we were there. He will be missed. But 
the fond memories I have of him will serve to inspire me in my work and 
in my life from here on out.
~
Paul Graham
New Orleans, Louisiana

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December 28, 2013
My condoleances to the children, relatives and friends of my esteemed 
colleague. With my deepest sympathy.
~
Adelaide Russo

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January 08, 2014
Jack May was a wonderful friend and mentor to me. We met in the 1970's, 
and he helped me spend a sabbatical year at LSU, helped my family find a 
place to live and schools to attend, and generally took us under his and 
Janet's wings. Beyond that, he was a fine scholar of religion and 
Southern literature whose penetrating insights helped shape my thinking 
for many years. Ever loyal, he would attend my conference presentations 
over the years, as I attended his when I was able. More than all that, 
he was a saintly person who always embodied the command to go the extra 
mile for others. In addition, he had a genial spirit and a wonderful 
sense of humor. We will miss him. Rest in peace, old friend.
~
john desmond,
walla walla, Washington

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January 08, 2014
I just got the sad news of Dr, May's passing today via the LSU English 
department's Facebook. I knew him fron the time he was supervisor of 
graduate assistants in the late 1970s until the present. I felt he 
looked out for my welfare. He was a fine person. My deepest sympathy to 
his family.
~
Mary Clare Carruth, PhD

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January 14, 2014
I am saddened by the news of Jack's death (through his friend and 
neighbor, Tania Nyman), but grateful that I got to see him as recently 
as early November when he and his son John (and Tania) came to my 
reading at the Louisiana Book Festival. What a delight to see Jack 
again! He was greatly saddened by the loss of his beloved Janet some 
years before, but his cheerfulness and kindness were as warm as ever.

I first met him in 1985 when I was in graduate school at LSU, and he was 
the genial chair of the English Department, always smiling and 
welcoming. He found some money for the printing of a modest publication 
by students in Andrei Codresu's essays & reviews class, The In-Patient 
Review (2 issues, 1985). We became friends, and in the early to mid 90s, 
Jack and Janet invited me to stay at their house a few times when I was 
visiting from New York. I think the last time I saw Janet May was in 
2001, shortly before I moved from N.O. back to NYC, when I introduced my 
fiancée, Janet Cameron, to Jack and Janet.

It is good to see all the expressions of affection and admiration for 
Daddy Jack, Johnny May, etc. He was kind and warm and will live on with 
us all, and in his writings and teachings on literature and film and 
religion.
~
Mark LaFlaur,
Kew Gardens, New York

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January 17, 2014
I was saddened to hear the news of Jack's death. He and Janet had always 
been strong supporters of me and my work, and we laughed together on 
many occasions. He introduced me to the work of William F. Lynch, among 
others, and thus helped shape my thinking about literature and its 
intersections with religion and philosophy.

I am grateful to him, also, for his mentoring me through the rigors of 
grad school at LSU and, later, my entry into the academic work place.

What a fine and holy man!
~
Edward Dupuy,
San Antonio, Texas

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January 18, 2014
"A great teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a 
love of learning..." -- Brad Henry

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence 
stops..." -- Henry Adams

"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with 
gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so 
much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the 
growing [student]..." -- Carl Jung

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have 
loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know 
that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

For all these gifts given to your students, family, friends, and former 
Jesuit brothers, I thank you, Jack, and honor you here with these 
permanently posted remembrances and quotes so apt in their description 
of you and the life you lived.

Devotedly,
Henry

Archived photograph: 
http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/content/photographs/johnrmay.html

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Remembrances archived from the Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home Guest Book:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/nola/guestbook.aspx?n=john-may&pid=168714114#sthash.ogsImab7.dpuf. 

Guest Book will remain online until 1/22/2014.


*************************************
Henry Mills, Director & Editor
The Walker Percy Educational Project, Inc.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy (web)
wppdirector AT gmail.com (email)