John Fandel john Fandel, poet, artist and professor emeritus of English and world literature, died on Nov. 15. He was 86. Fandel began teaching at Manhattan College in 1958 and served 29 years in various roles, including poet-in-residence. Known at the College for his poems marking special occasions, such as the Sesquicentennial celebration and the inauguration of the two most recent presidents, Fandel was a renowned poet in his own right. He served as poetry ediFandel at Commencement tor at Commonweal magazine from 1963 in 1987. to 1979. Early in his career, he was honored with the Poetry Society of America’s Reynolds Lyric Award (1957). His poetry, including the notable collections Testament and Other Poems (1959) and 5 a.m. and Other Times (1981), have been widely anthologized and published in The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times and The New Yorker, which published seven poems during the 1970s. He also published numerous pamphlets of verse from small presses; six collections of poetry, with the first collection being published in 1959 and the last being published in the 1990s; and pamphlets and three books on prayer. MaryAnn O’Donnell, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English and former dean of the school of arts, recalled part of one of his most accessible poems, Students: I used to rewrite their compositions for them; Now in my Twenty-Fifth Year of correcting recieve, I accept their comic wrestling with the verb
And wait on the winner to be. Give them a year, Give them some future. How they parse into senior Sentences! “Remember the day you said in class...” And I am a goner. What happened to Me-no-talk George? Intelligence, beautiful as a semi-colon, Transpires. Who is responsible? The Holy Ghost. It must be, certainly, Spirit Attendant on the Scene: Ghosts of the past Come back through George: I’m rapt in his seance. Charlie comes through, speaking princely English, Whose syntax was once more original than sin: “Charlie, you have invented a new language.” Charlie Grinned to a B; now, he teaches grammar. “It captures Manhattan, his love for the College, his love of teaching, and, most particularly, his love for his students,” O’Donnell says. “Every student he has ever taught will see himself or herself in that poem, but everyone who reads it will see John crossing the Quad on his way to class and stopping as he often did to chat with a student.” June Dwyer, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English and world literature, considered Fandel “a mentor, friend and inspiration.” Recalling a time as a young professor when she forgot her notes for a class while teaching in Leo Hall, Dwyer says Fandel told her, “It’s good to have that happen; it tests you as a teacher.” A native of Yonkers, N.Y., Fandel attended Trinity College in Connecticut and was an H.E. Russell Fellow at Yale University. He earned a master’s from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English as a Robert Frost Poetry Scholar. Fandel presented poetry readings at 40 colleges, universities and schools and received numerous awards.
Manfred Wanger manfred Wanger ’61, Ph.D., assistant professor of German and alumnus of Manhattan College, died on Dec. 28. He was 71. Wanger began and ended his teaching career at Manhattan College. He joined the faculty in 1963 and was instrumental in creating the College’s men’s soccer team, serving as its first coach in 1966. He also taught at Fordham University, the Goethe Institute at New York University and was a longtime member of the Somers High School faculty. At Somers, he developed a German program and was also involved in soccer. Upon his retirement from the school system, Wanger returned to Manhattan as an adjunct until 2003. He was quite fond of the Brothers and the College, and in return, Wanger was also appreciated by students and faculty alike.
“My memory of Manfred is that of a superb colleague — intelligent, informed, caring and witty — whose passion for teaching inspired his students and stimulated their desire for learning beyond the course content into the fundamental concerns essential to all humanity,” says Joan Cammarata, Ph.D., professor of Spanish. The former Jasper also earned an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He is survived by his wife, Nonie Wanger, assistant professor of French and Italian and director of the study abroad program at the College. The two were married on campus, where they met. “He always considered Manhattan his second home,” she says. MANHATTAN.EDU N 51