Robert Bruce Bickley Jr.

Bruce Bickley was born on August 20, 1942, in New Rochelle, NY. Raised in Tennessee and Kentucky, he attended Anchorage Public School and Eastern High School in Middletown, KY. He earned his BA in English, Phi Beta Kappa, at the University of Virginia and his MA and PhD in English at Duke University. He met his future wife and fellow English major Karen Luce at Duke, and they were married in the Duke Chapel in 1966. They both took positions at Florida State University in 1969, Bruce in the Department of English and Karen in the College of Education. At FSU, among other administrative posts, Dr. Bickley served for nine years as Interim Associate Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for one year as Interim Dean of the College, and for five years as the Director of the University Honors Program. In addition to other awards, he was the recipient of a University Teaching Award, the Martin Luther King Award for Distinguished Service, and the Omicron Delta Kappa and Gold Key Overall Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service. Along with more than 100 book chapters, articles, encyclopedia entries, reviews, and regional, national, and international conference papers on nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature and folklore, he was the author of The Method of Melville's Short Fiction (Duke Press, 1975); Joel Chandler Harris: A Biography and Critical Study (in four editions, 1978-2008, published by the Twayne U.S. Authors Series, iUniverse, and the University of Georgia Press); Joel Chandler Harris: A Reference Guide, co-authored with Karen Bickley, MA, and Dr. Thomas English (G. K. Hall, 1978); Critical Essays on Joel Chandler Harris (G. K. Hall, 1981); and Joel Chandler Harris: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism, 1977-1996, with Supplement 1892-1976, co-authored with Dr. Hugh Keenan (Greenwood Press, 1997). Dr. Bickley was also the co-editor, with his son Dr. John T. Bickley, of Joel Chandler Harris's Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation (Penguin Classics, 2003). Additionally, for 25 years he conducted professional writing workshops and carried out consulting projects for more than 20 state and federal agencies and private firms. Along with academic editing, he also edited novels, memoirs, and children's books. At FSU, Dr. Bickley taught American literature and editing workshops for undergraduates, graduate students, and area writers, as well as adult learning courses on major American and British authors for FSU's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

The Bickleys enjoyed travel to Europe, Alaska, and Ireland and were members of various book clubs. Bruce's main hobby was singing bass with The Capital Chordsmen barbershop harmony chorus and with his mixed-voice, men's and women's quartet, Equal Time. Above all, they enjoyed time with their large, adoring family. The Bickleys raised four children: Kathryn Greene (Dave); David (son Tyler and daughter Alissa); John (Dani Su and children Addy and Taylor Jane); and Scott (Jenny and children Lucy, Charlie, Kennedy, and Sally). In addition to his wife, children and grandchildren, Bruce is survived by his niece Courtney Vincent (children Eliya and Benjamin) and by several cousins who live, among other places, on the west coast, in North Carolina, and in Alaska. He was predeceased by his parents Bob and Jean Bickley; by parents-in-law Arthur and Viola Luce; by his sister Anne Barnes and brother-in-law Jim Barnes; and by his brothers-in-law Charlie and Bill Luce.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Capital Chordsmen.