Dr. Alfred Appel, Jr.

Dr. Alfred Appel (uh-PELL) was a famed Jewish-American professor of English and scholar of modernism, best known for being the foremost authority on his former instructor Vladimir Nabokov.

Early Life

Appel was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Alfred Appel, Sr., was a managing partner at the law firm of Proskauer, Rose, Goetz, and Mendelsohn. His mother, Beatrice, survived both father and son. His siblings were Elizabeth A. (Appel) Schaffer and John Appel.

Academic Career

He began his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, but left shortly thereafter to serve in the U.S. Army. While stationed in France, he purchased a copy of Nabokov's Lolita, after having taken courses with Nabokov at Cornell. Upon returning to the U.S., he transferred to Columbia University. In 1963, he received his doctorate there for his dissertation on famed Southern writer Eudora Welty. He built the bulk of his career around Nabokov, however, and was even one of the invited speakers at the writer's 1977 memorial service.

After teaching at Columbia for a few years, he accepted a position at Northwestern University, teaching there from 1968 to 2000. During this years, he published many books on Nabokov, modernism, art, and music, most notably The Annotated "Lolita," which remains the definitive work on the text. When he died, he was working on books about Louis Armstrong and pre-WWII American art.

Appel was awarded many honors during his career, including:

• ASCAP Deems Taylor Award
• Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
• Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship

He was named a Professor of English Emeritus by Northwestern upon his retirement.

Family Life

In 1957, Appel married Nina Schick. Together, they had two children:

• Richard Appel, attorney and television writer/producer (two children)
• Karen A. Oshman (two children)

In the last 15 years of his life, Appel lived in on Greenleaf Avenue in Wilmette, Illinois with his wife.

Death & Memorials

Appel died on May 2, 2009 in Evanston, Illinois. His funeral was held on May 6, 2009 at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue in New York City.

A collector of modernist and humanist art, Appel left a large collection of Leonard Baskin's works to the Delaware Art Museum, and also specified that donations made following his death be directed to the museum. The museum held a special show of Baskin's work in 2010 in Appel's honor and also released a book in honor of him.

Sources

• "Alfred Appel." Northwestern University Department of English. < http://www.english.northwestern.edu/people/emeritus/appel.html > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• Alfred Appel Jr. Obituary. New York Times, May 6, 2009. < http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=alfred-app... > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• "Books from Current and Recent Exhibitions." Delaware Art Museum. < http://www.delart.org/06store/books/past_exhibitions/item_leonard_b... > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• Fitzgerald, Hugh. "The Iconoclast." New England Review, October 6, 2011. < http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_print_link.cfm/blog_id/38307 > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• Grimes, William. "Alfred Appel Jr., Expert on Nabokov and Author, Dies at 75." New York Times, May 7, 2009. < http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/arts/07appel.html > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• "Jazz Modernism: From Ellington to Armstrong to Matisse and Joyce." JazzScript. < http://www.jazzscript.co.uk/books/socappell.htm > Accessed October 31, 2011.
• "717 Greenleaf Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091." BlockShopper. < http://chicago.blockshopper.com/property/05342150050000/717_greenleaf > Accessed October 31, 2011.