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Continued: SCURA, Dorothy M., retired literature professor and former Chair of the English Departments at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, died Thursday morning in Knoxville. (cq 10/8/09 at 10:30 a.m.) Dr. Scura's scholarship focused on Southern American writers. Her books include "Ellen Glasgow: New Perspectives," (UT Press 1995), "Ellen Glasgow: The Contemporary Reviews," (Cambridge University Press 1992), Conversations with Tom Wolfe" (University of Mississippi Press 1990), and "Henry James, 1960-1974: A Reference Guide" (G.K. Hall 1979), all writers of Richmond. Dr. Scura completed her Ph.D. at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1973 at 40, and despite starting an academic career late, gained appointments to several faculties and two department chairmanships while publishing dozens of articles, contributing numerous chapters to reference books, and serving as officer in several national professional associations, all while raising a family. Born Dorothy Caroline McInnis in Anacoco, La., in 1933 to schoolteachers J. Edgar and Elizabeth Cherry McInnis, she graduated from Istrouma High in Baton Rouge and magna cum laude in 1956 from Louisiana State University. She married at 19 to Alban E. Woolley and two years later was the mother of the first of three children. She moved to New Paltz, N.Y. in 1959. Her first marriage ended there in 1963. She moved to New York City, where she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1968. While at Columbia, her scholarship was directed by the late Professor Lewis Leary. A mentor and friend, Leary encouraged her to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completing her doctorate, Dr. Scura was on the faculties of Randolph Macon-College in Ashland, Virginia, University of Richmond, and then VCU. By 1982 she was VCU English Department Director of Graduate Studies, then Department Chairperson from 1984 to 1988. University of Tennessee named her Chairperson of the Knoxville campus English Department in 1988, and she served three years. In the final years of her career, she returned to her primary passions of teaching and mentoring future scholars. Dr. Scura was president of the Ellen Glasgow Society, edited its newsletter and served on its executive board for 20 years. A longtime member of the Society for the Study of Southern Language, she served on its executive board, finance, and bibliography committees. She sat on the editorial board of the South Atlantic Association of Departments of English (SAMLA), publisher of "South Atlantic Quarterly" from 1993 until her health failed. She also served the Modern Language Association (MLA). Dr. Scura met and married New York City born and raised clinical psychologist, Dr. George W. Scura, in 1964. He died suddenly in October 1981. She did not remarry. Dr. Scura is survived by her three children and their spouses, son, Dr. Michael E. and Deborah F. Woolley, of Chicago; daughters, Wynne W. and James W. Wasson, of Goochland County, Va., and Jill W. and Joseph A. Stafford, of Stafford, Va.; and four grandchildren: Caroline L. Miller, of Richmond, Va., Jennifer W. Woolley, of Chicago, and Ethan and Erica Duke, of Goldsboro, N.C. She is also survived by her four sisters and brothers-in-law, Ann and Louis C. Le Blanc, of Greenville, S.C., Drs. Joan and Tom Cocke, of Dallas, Drs. Patricia and Richard R. Graham of Baltimore and Baton Rouge, and Joyce and Pal Lemoine, of Baton Rouge; and by scores of nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held in Richmond in the spring, where she will be interred next to her husband. Arrangements are not complete. If you would like to be invited to the memorial service, please email your contact information, along with any message you would like to send Dr. Scura's family to: DorothyMScura@yahoo.com. In lieu of flowers, the children request that you make a donation in Dorothy's memory to St. Mary's Hospice of Knoxville, Tenn., 7447 Andersonville Pike, 865-925-5500, or your local Hospice.
Published in Richmond Times-Dispatch on October 11, 2009
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