Greene, David H. 1913–2008

(David Herbert Greene)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born November 4, 1913, in Boston, MA; died of pneumonia, July 9, 2008, near Boynton Beach, FL. Educator, scholar of Irish culture, biographer, editor, and author. Greene's passion was Ireland, and he turned his love for his mother's homeland into a career. After teaching English at various institutions between 1939 and 1946, including Boston College, the College of New Rochelle, and the U.S. Naval Academy, Greene joined the English faculty at New York University in 1946. Greene taught Irish literature and culture at the university for almost forty years, beginning at a time when Irish studies had not yet achieved the status of an accepted field of study. Greene is credited for elevating Irish literature to its current position of respect and importance. He began by compiling anthologies of Irish prose, fiction, and poetry, sometimes reaching more than a thousand years into the island's past. He also turned his attention to Ireland's literary giants, beginning with the biography J.M. Synge, 1871-1909 (1959), and including the edited collection G.B. Shaw: The Matter with Ireland (1962). Greene was a personal friend of playwright Sean O'Casey, with whom he exchanged dozens of letters over the years; he was also the source of his university's large collection of O'Casey's correspondence. Greene wrote about the Gaelic heritage as it is revealed in Irish literature. He also collaborated to produce collections in the Gaelic language, including a Gaelic interpretation of the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Greene's anthologies, some of which included his own translations, enabled him to introduce Irish literature to generations of appreciative readers. The anthologies include 1000 Years of Irish Prose (1952), Fingal Rónáin and Other Stories (1955, 1993), and A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry, AD 600 to 1200 (1990).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, July 16, 2008, p. C11.