I've only now learned of Professor Sherry's passing. I took 3 classes of his during my time at University of Arizona. He was one of the most important teachers I've ever had. 

Even though it's already been 5 years,  learning this today somehow takes a bit of the magic out of the world. Reading all the stories here, from his previous students who are more than twice my age,  is...baffling. Considering the last class I took with him was around 2017-2018, he literally taught until the end. 

Im so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a student of his.  Once he randomly announced during class, "I never thought I'd make it this far!" He was talking about how old he was.  He must have been around 73 years old then. 

All I can really say,  is if I ever make it that far,  that I hope I can be even half the teacher he was. My deepest gratitude to you,  Professor.  I guess we weren't friends,  but I sure as hell do miss you like one.

Charles Sherry was the professor for one of my prerequisite courses at UT Austin in the early 70’s.  Apart from asking me to write an essay on the differences between similes and metaphors, a question that still comes to mind even though I’m now in my 70’s, he also furnished me object lessons in the mistake of assuming something that seems evident and in appreciating the malleability of human behavior. 

 Those lessons came when, after the course and semester had ended, we sat down for a beer.  He had a distinct British accent so  I asked him what part of England he was from.  His answer was,  “Montana.” 

He had grown up an only child whose mind was restless and whose imagination was somewhat different than his peers on the Montana plane.  Early on he had heard a British accent on television, was drawn to it, and began to affect it from then on.  By the time I met him (and judging by my former headmaster’s Oxford accent at a boarding school in north Texas)) he had perfected it.

 I may not be able to hear Charles Sherry’s voice anymore, but I well remember the impressions he imparted.  They were like nothing else because they were everything.

Dr. Sherry was the best professor I ever had. I took two classes with him: he was the first professor to ever give me a "C" on a paper and boy did I work harder after that. A couple of years later he recommended me to be a Junior Fellow, AND he wrote a letter of recommendation which helped get me into the Comp Lit Ph.D. program at Rutgers, where he had gone. I will always remember him.

Charles Sherry was an inspiring teacher at Univ Texas-Austin  1973-75, where I took his undergrad courses, including a seminar on modern German literature and philosophy.  He was the only professor who considered me an adult and expected me to act accordingly, and in return he never condescended to me.   

Dr Sherry was my favorite professor at UT. I took maybe three of his classes and he recommended me for the Junior Fellow program (1976-1977) and served as my advisor. I read and lectured on Being and Nothingness by Sartre. Also,  he wrote a recommendation that helped get me into the PhD program at Rutgers. He really helped shape my life. Brilliant and inspiring man. 

Dr. Sherry was my professor in a comparative literature course I took at the University of Texas at Austin.   It was perhaps the most important course I took as an undergraduate.  I learned critical thinking and writing.   Indeed, it helped give me a solid foundation to become a lawyer and then later a judge.   I remember him fondly.   He was probably the best professor I had in the final analysis.   And I was blessed to have a number of really good professors.

I am so sorry to find out Charles is gone from this particular world.  I took his "Love is the Enemy" class, which was super fun and interesting........ of course,  With a title like that.....  anyway last night under the lunar eclipse I was thinking of him and drove by his house and the lights were out and so was he.......\\





He was a difficult man (By choice), fiercely intelligent and independent. I often think of him and all he taught me in the few years I knew him. He’ll be remembered fondly  by many. I’ll miss him. 

I was very sorry to discover that Charles Sherry died in April. I was an undergraduate at Arizona in the 1980’s and professor Sherry was one of my favorite teachers. His classes were lessons in reading patiently and thoroughly, even if it meant not getting to all the books on the syllabus, and it was one of his classes that lured me back to school after I had dropped out. And now, when I have looked him up to thank him at last for his kindness and encouragement, I find I am too late. So I’ll say here how fortunate I feel to have known him and learned from him.


I grew up across the street from Charles in Havre, Mt..  His father was my dentist and his brother, Stuart, was a fishing partner.  Charles and I would get together each summer when he visited his mom, in Havre, and we had some memorable conversations with dinner and drinks.  We kept in touch for several years and lost contact; unfortunately.  It was with great sadness when I discovered that he had died before I could contact him.  He was one of a kind and I will miss him.  See ya later Charles.

Charles was the father I never had. Every conversation with him seemed to open doors to new worlds. I will miss his subtle humor, insight, and great care.  I'll never forget him suggesting I needed a thunder shirt when I was anxious about something or other. That idea still comforts me and makes me laugh. I ordered his book on Wordsworth, since hearing he was gone, and his epigraph from Emerson reminded me how gentle and unique his approach to sharing knowledge always was. 

Every man's condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquires he would put. He acts it as life, before he apprehends it as truth. 

Infancy is the perpetual Messiah, which comes into the arms of fallen men, and pleads with them to return to paradise. 

Rest In Peace my old friend!  I met Charles   47 years ago when I was studying at the University of Freiburg in Germany.  Charles was doing research on Martin Heidegger and with both of us being from Montana we immediately struck up a friendship that has lasted through the times in Freiburg and later Berlin, as well as Montana.  In the past years we were able to pick up our friendship here in the US - I will miss our frequent discussions.  To Asa and Marion please accept my deepest condolences .   

Charles first contacted me about 8 years ago regarding his beloved year old Rottweiler mix, Willie. He wanted Willie to be less fearful, and we did several private lessons to help Willie to gain confidence and be a bit more controllable. Charles and I would inevitability talk about teaching and his students and life in general.  After our lessons were finished we would meet for lunch and have lovely conversations about life, teaching, dogs and everything. He was perceptive and knowing and funny and kind and I will miss him and his bright and piercing eyes. I am so glad to have had a chance to know him!

Charles and I would meet for coffee on a regular basis at the Beyond Bread on Campbell to talk about everything from frustrations at work to Heidegger and Kierkegaard. I always enjoyed his wit and insight. He was extremely well read, possessing a keen intellect. Charles was often misunderstood. He cared about his students and wanted them to receive more than a  packaged education. I will miss him.

When I first met Charles, I did not think we had a lot in common. In time I realized that I had misjudged him. He had a splendid intellect and shared my enthusiasm for film and music. We had a custom of meeting for lunch on a regular basis. The better I came to know Charles, the more I respected him and the more I liked him. He had a subtle mind and an extraordinary range of knowledge. He was also devoted to his students, even if he may have seemed formidable in the classroom. I value all the time I spent with Charles, and I shall miss him.

My deepest condolences to Charles's loved ones in this time of loss.  I am remembering my countless conversations with Charles with affection and will miss our dog get-togethers and Charles's canny wit and brilliance along with his endearing stubbornness that was a sign of his vast integrity.

Charles Sherry was one of my favorite colleagues and a good friend. He was one of the smartest people I've met, and certainly among the least tractable. I will particularly miss our coffees together and our lively conversations, his unwillingness to suffer fools, and his loud blaring of Guns n Roses and Lorde down the Modern Languages hallway well beyond the bounds of reasonable behavior. My best students were inspired by him, as was I. He cared a lot, and thought a lot. Without him the world will be a less interesting place. Rest in Peace, my friend. I will carry your memory with me.

Charles, an old and dear friend, was a brilliant, inspiring  teacher and pure intellectual, devoted to the life of the mind in a way that one does not often see these days.  I shall miss our conversations  especially his cranky but totally focused opinions of books and movies.  RIP old friend. 

OBITUARIO

Charles Evan Sherry

28 agosto, 1941 – 28 abril, 2020

Desert Rose Heather Cremation & Burial

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