This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
Our Colleagues

Obituaries

Published: October 13, 2011

Martin L. Pops, professor emeritus of English, died Sept. 29 in his Buffalo home from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 76.

Pops was a faculty member at UB from 1965 to 2007, teaching a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, including 19th- and 20th-century American literature, the English novel and seminars on the relationship of art and literature.

A longtime friend and associate of Pulitzer Prize-winning UB poet Carl Dennis, he had served since the 1970s as Dennis’ critical sounding board, meeting with him weekly over dinner.

Pops was active with Dennis in 2007 in Art Keepers, a group that advocated against the sale of antiquities owned by Albright-Knox Art Gallery and tried to block the sale with a lawsuit.

A longtime student of art history, he published a variety of stories and articles, as well as two highly regarded books on scholarly subjects—“The Melville Archetype” in 1970 and “Vermeer: Consciousness and the Chamber of Being” in 1984. A book of essays, “Home Remedies,” also appeared in 1984.

His first book of fiction, “Minoxidyl and Other Stories,” was published in 2010. Another scholarly work, “The Life and Art of Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847-1917): The Achievement of an American Artist,” is due to be published this year.

Born in the Bronx, he earned his bachelor’s degree from City College of New York and his doctorate from Columbia University. He served stateside in the Army during the Korean War.

A memorial service was held Oct. 2.

Andrew W. Holt, a retired dean at UB and a competitive rower, died Sept. 26 in Mercy Hospital. He was 87.

Born in Buffalo, Holt served in the Army during World War II and was part of the Allies’ advance through France and Germany. He was stationed in Germany after that country’s surrender.

He later returned to Buffalo, earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from UB.

Holt began working at UB as part of the administrative staff in 1960. He retired in 1983 as the graduate dean for higher education. He also was co-founder of the American Association of Administrators.

Holt’s rowing career began at the West Side Rowing Club in 1947. He took part in the 1948 Olympic trials in Princeton, N. J., where his boat pulled off several upsets before being eliminated in the finals by the team from the University of Washington, which went on to win the gold medal at that year’s Olympics.

Holt’s crew did set several national records and won the titles of both U.S. and Canadian National Champions.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.