It is hard to believe that it is three years since Jon's passing...
I think of him often, and the love of great writing that he shared with me in my junior year in high school is one of the gifts I have most treasured in my life through the 5+ decades since. 

As a tongue-tied 10th grader who seldom participated in group discussions, I remember the first note on my Fall report card from him- "Like Tar Baby, Peter just sits there- don't say nuthin'..."
His humorous challenge turned me around, because I realized that the discussions he led (no, ELICITED from us) on great books by D.H. Lawrence, Forster, Woolf, Beckett, Burns, etc. (likely to be banned by fearful conservatives today...) were the greatest opportunity to think for myself that I had ever been  given (before or since...).

That note shook me out of my teen insecurity- and laziness- along with his ability every day to treat each of us in his class as a scholar worthy of deep insights- as if we were taking part in a post-grad seminar forum... "Young Jon" (as we called him- barely 10 years our senior...) remains forever young inside all of us he touched with his gift of Scottish gab and fantastic searching curiosity about life and living literature. Today, in honoring him, I wear my favorite well-worn  t-shirt, with a dancing book saying, "Ban the Fascists: Save the Books".  I hope he is smiling down on me... his ex-Tar Baby.

May Jon's memory always be a blessing for all of his friends and family, as it is for me.     

-Peter Harrison

         My great memory when he was my instructor at Teachers College- his taking off the roller blades he wore from the 125th st train station, coming off a Connecticut train, in front of Horace Mann! He taught me to go deep with literature- you cannot help students get excited if you don't know why you are. He free wrote with all of us. He was a generous person, all around. Years later I wrote to him and it was as if no time had passed at all. I will miss him.

Jonathan Lovell was amazing. I was a member of his Novel Writing program at the Teen Writer Institute. Jonathan always expressed passion in what he did, and I always remembered his smiling face when he walked into a room at the Institute, looking at all the children his program had inspired to write. 

I was one of Jonathan's first class of 10th grade students as a new teacher fresh out of college. He inspired us with his love of literature, learning, and life, and pushed us to dig below the surface to discover deeper meaning. He was truly a pied piper for me to learn to think independently, and to love reading great literature.
For my entire adult life, I have felt gratitude for all that he imparted, and for how he listened to a room full of sleepy-eyed tenth graders at 7:30am as though we were accomplished fellow scholars. I know I speak for my fellow classmates when I send wishes for healing to Jonathan's family. He lives on in all of our hearts. 

I was in the first high school class Jonathan taught in Wilmington, Delaware. He was probably only eight years older than we sophomores were. Even then, he was an inspiring teacher and opened our minds to literature. This past fall, our school celebrated its 100th anniversary and we were thrilled that he and Ellen came for the weekend. We will always remember his enthusiasm for travel, literature, adventure and life.

One evening in the early 1990's I picked up the phone and there at the other end of the line was Jonathan Lovell, asking me to present
to teachers my method of teaching ESL.  I was honored to receive his call because at the Writing Project Summer Institute, he was a larger than life figure.  What was amazing was how he made each and every person he met feel as if they were the only person in the room.  He was the Mr. Rogers of English education.  I am grateful to have known Jonathan.

"Jonny" and I went through elementary school together in Newton MA. Nothing says as much about him as his enduring, infectious smile. We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when... 

 I was in the English teaching credential program at SJSU from 2012-2014 and Dr. Lovell was my professor for teaching English in the classroom. He was a great teacher and mentor. He is one of the most memorable professors whose classes I had the honor of attending. He will be missed, and his impact on me will be last through my lifetime.

Jonathan Lovell was the director of The San Jose Area Writing Project and I attended  in 2006. He was indefatigable, funny and charismatic. He walked his values and cultivated a following of teachers who not only taught writing but wrote themselves.  Because we wrote, we could teach with greater depth of understanding and portray the pleasures of writing to the most reluctant of students.  Without Jonathan's leadership, there would have been no Writing Project in San Jose and  we would not have been able to teach with the passion and drive that we cultivated during those Summer Institutes. He will be sorely missed.

I knew Jonathan and Ellen from attending TAC Summer Schools.  Jonathan was such a refreshing and welcoming person who always seemed to have a ready smile and a positive and encouraging word.  One summer he and I and others sang in a choir at Summer School.  Jonathan was one of the main forces in setting this up.  By the end of the week, we had prepared two songs and performed them.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.  Over the years, I would meet Jonathan and enjoy renewing my acquaintance with him.  He was simply a lovely person, and he will be missed by many.  My sincere sympathy to Ellen and his family.
James Betts

I only spoke to Jonathan a couple times, briefly, in meetings in his office during my time at SJSU. I was struggling at the time to see myself in English education. My memories of the content of the occasion are faint--I can vaguely piece together speaking of what his long path to the position had at SJSU had taught him. But I will not forget how he made me feel, how every time I passed by his doors I hoped to see him there. To be in Jonathan Lovell's office was to know what English Education could be, to witness somebody who, over the course of his whole career, had a nurturing heart towards every aspiring English educator that came through SJSU's doors. It's a terrible loss to our world.

I knew Jonathan through Pickleball at the Villages. He was such a fun, generous and kind person, he was always looking to help others. I can't think of a time that Jonathan was not smiling. His enthusiasm for life, teaching, writing (and of course pickleball) was infectious. I'll miss seeing him, playing with him, working with him on the board, but mostly the missed opportunities in the future.
He often spoke about his love for his family, and our hearts go out to them at this time.
Anahid & Mark

Jonathan Lovell was a kind and generous and brilliant gentleman. I knew him at a distance, although we met a few times in person. I saw him in San Francisco in February, and he seemed to be in good health. I was always impressed by his love of teaching, learning, and writing. He had a wonderful, creative mind and a gentle spirit. 

Diane Ravitch

OBITUARY

Jonathan Hallett Lovell

21 May, 1945 – 14 April, 2020

Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park

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