Pamela H. Simpson: 1946-2011.

Brown, P. Scott

Pamela H. Simpson

1946-2011

President of SECAC, 1986-1990

Editor-in-Chief of The SECAC Review, 1979-1982

Professor of Art History, Washington and Lee University

It is appropriate to the mission of SECAC and in keeping with the traditions of this association to acknowledge and celebrate the colleagues whose contributions have shaped this organization and endowed its character. Even as it has grown, SECAC has remained an unusually warm, almost familial professional association, its welcoming, nurturing environment balanced by its stimulating and challenging intellectual and artistic richness. This balance is embodied in the career and character of Pam Simpson, SECAC's former president, former editor-in-chief, and friend, role model, and mentor to many.

Pam's passing in 2011 was an occasion for reflection on her life and career. Pam was a path-blazer, professionally generous, deeply devoted and loyal to her students and colleagues. But Pam, who I met ten years ago at my first SECAC conference, is not altogether unique among our members. It was she and colleagues like her--intelligent, accomplished, and kind--who so impressed me and first attracted me to SECAC. Her spirit lives on in the spirit of our fellowship.

As editor of this journal in 2011, I received many requests from authors to dedicate publications to Pam. This issue of The Review in memoriam is the fruit of our colleagues' desire to commemorate Pam intellectually and to honor her famously original and idiosyncratic vision as a scholar. The legacy of her sense of humor and imaginative intelligence is on full display in the offerings in this collection. From copies of Gainsborough in worsted wool to Indian corn palaces, in a posthumous piece co-authored by Pam herself, these studies pay tribute the memory of our regretted colleague and friend.

P. Scott Brown

Editor-in-Chief