Robert Danly, April 27, 1997
ANN ARBOR—Award-winning writer and translator Robert Lyons Danly, University of Michigan professor of Japanese language and culture, died of a brain tumor April 27. He was 50.
Danly, who had taught Japanese literature at the U-M since 1980, achieved immediate fame among translators and scholars when his doctoral dissertation—a biography of writer Higuchi Ichiyo that included translations of her short stories—received the American National Book Award for translation in 1982.
At the U-M, Danly directed a popular translation workshop for the Program in Comparative Literature. He also served as director of the Center for Japanese Studies in 1989-93, during which he transformed the Center’s publishing program into one of the most highly regarded publishing series in Japanese literature, culture and history in the United States.
Born Jan. 3, 1947, in Oak Park, Ill., Danly earned his undergraduate degree and doctorate from Yale University, and also worked as a copywriter for the Asia Advertising Agency in Tokyo.
“Danly will be remembered by his friends and colleagues for his brilliant wit, his dry humor, his fine discernment, his stubborn tenacity and his extraordinary range of interests—from Kabuki theater to Broadway musicals, from Japanese architecture to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, from Ed Debevecs to the Four Seasons,” said Stuart McDougal, director of the Program in Comparative Literature.
Danly is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Danly of Burr Ridge, Ill.; sisters Christina Denton (Larry) of Hinsdale, Ill., Beth Burtt of Burr Ridge, Ill., and Catharine Zoufal (Robert) of Western Springs Ill.; and 11 nieces and nephews. Memorial contributions
Published in the University of Michigan News on May 2, 1997
From the University of Michigan website:
Regents’ Proceedings 351
The Regents of the University of Michigan acknowledge with profound sadness the death on April 27, 1997, of Robert Lyons Danly, professor of Japanese language and literature, award-winning writer and translator, and former director of the Center for Japanese Studies.
Born on January 3, 1947, in Oak Park, Illinois, Professor Danly received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1969 and spent three years as a copywriter for the Asian Advertising Agency in Tokyo before returning to Yale to complete his doctorate in 1980. He joined the University faculty in 1979. A popular teacher, Professor Danly received the Class of 1923 Award for outstanding teaching of undergraduates in 1984. He was also dedicated to training graduate students, some of whom now teach in important institutions across the country. From 1982-86, he directed a popular translation workshop for the Program in Comparative Literature. He also served as director of the Center for Japanese Studies from 1987-93 and was instrumental in transforming the center’s publications program into one of the most highly regarded American publishers for studies of Japanese literature, culture, and history.
A leading expert in Japanese literature, Professor Danly achieved distinction when his first book, In the Shade of Spring Leaves: The Life and Writings of Higuchi Ichiyo, A Woman of Letters in Meiji Japan, published by Yale University Press in 1981, won the 1982 National Book Award for translation. He edited selections of Japanese literature for The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, writing introductions to guide Western readers. At the time of his death, Professor Danly had completed a book manuscript titled Worldly Reckonings, an annotated translation of Seken munezan’yo (1692) by Ihara Saikaku. Shortly before he became ill in the fall of 1995, he had begun a new translation for Norton Press of the Tale of Genji, the great masterpiece of Japanese prose fiction written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century.
Professor Danly will be greatly missed as a scholar, teacher, colleague, and friend. As we mourn the loss of this distinguished colleague, our condolences go to his parents, Donald and Mary Danly, and his three sisters, Christina Denton, Beth Burtt, and Catharine Zoufal.
LSA Minutes
1947 – 1997
Robert Lyons Danly, Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, award-winning writer and translator, and former Director of the Center for Japanese Studies passed away on April 27, 1997.
Born on January 3, 1947, in Oak Park, Illinois, Professor Danly received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1969 and spent three years as a copywriter for the Asian Advertising Agency in Tokyo before returning to Yale to complete his doctorate in 1980. He joined the University faculty in 1979. A popular teacher, Professor Danly received the Class of 1923 Award for outstanding teaching of undergraduates in 1984. He was also dedicated to training graduate students, some of whom now teach in important institutions across the country. From 1982 to 1986, he directed a popular translation workshop for the Program in Comparative Literature. He also served as Director of the Center for Japanese Studies from 1987 to 1993, and was instrumental in transforming the Center’s publications program into one of the most highly regarded American publishers for studies of Japanese literature, culture and history.
A leading expert in Japanese literature, Professor Danly achieved distinction when his first book, In the Shade of Spring Leaves: The Life and Writings of Higuchi Ichiyo, A Woman of Letters in Meiji Japan, published by Yale University Press in 1981, won the 1982 National Book Award for translation. He edited selections of Japanese literature for The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, writing introductions to guide Western readers. At the time of his death, Professor Danly had completed a book manuscript titled Worldly Reckonings, an annotated translation of Seken munezan’yo (1692) by Ihara Saikaku. Shortly before he became ill in the fall of 1995, he had begun a new translation for Norton Press of the Tale of Genji, the great masterpiece of Japanese prose fiction written by Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century.
Professor Danly will be greatly missed as a scholar, teacher, colleague, and friend. As we mourn the loss of this distinguished colleague, our condolences go to his parents, Donald and Mary Danly, and his three sisters, Christina Denton, Beth Burtt, and Catharine Zoufal.
Shuen-fu Lin