death of Prof. Tyler of Ohio State University

Sad news came yesterday that Dr. William J. Tyler, professor of modern Japanese literature at Ohio State University, died on January 3rd. He had visited Chicago most recently in the fall of 2007, when he gave a talk about Kawabata Yasunari's "Snow Country" {川端康成の雪国という小説}. I introduced him before he spoke at Wright College, and Payton student Susann P. (class of 2008) was there to here him.
Dr. Tyler was best known for translating the works of Ishikawa Jun {石川淳}. He did his M.A. at International Christian University in Tokyo, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Japanese literature at Harvard. Before going to Ohio State, he taught at Amherst College and the University of Pennsylvania. Then, from 1987 to 1989, he was the director of the Stanford-administered Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies {アメリカ・カナダ大学連合日本研究センター｝ in Yokohama, which is where I met him.
He was remarkable for his kindness and good humor, as well as for his erudition; and he is fondly remembered by many former students who are now teachers. When I spoke to him last summer, he seemed remarkably fit and well; so the announcement of his death comes as a great shock. I feel very grateful to him for all the ways he taught me and helped me from 1987 to the present.
タイラー先生、お世話になっておりました。心からお礼を申し上げます。