Walter Earl "Buddy" Meyers

He was born to parents Walter Frederick and Margaret Josephine Meyers, on July 1st, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Walter enlisted in the United States Army immediately after graduating from Saint Wendelin High School and, after studying Russian at the Army Language School at Monterey, was stationed in Nottau, Germany while he worked at the central communications monitoring station for American intelligence at Bad Eibling. After his military service, Walter attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History (with honors). His diligence and academic achievements earned him a Danforth Fellowship and an NDEA (National Defense Education Act) Fellowship to cover his tuition and expenses while pursuing Doctoral studies in English Literature from the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Walter was particularly intellectually curious. While he earned his Doctorate in the study of Medieval Literature and wrote a dissertation which was later published by Duquesne University Press under the title A Figure Given, he was equally fascinated by the study of Linguistics and for much of his career, taught a variety of courses related to Linguistics, Grammar Usage, and the critical study of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature at the English Department of North Carolina State University. He retired from teaching a few years early in order to concentrate on his second career in game development. He was a lead script programmer for the Online Game company Simutronics, scripting custom player experiences in such worlds as GemStone and DragonRealms.

He married Julia Roberta Reed, the love of his life, in 1961, and raised a family. He has three surviving children, Matthew (Jennifer), Michael (Ginger), and Julian (David) and nine grandchildren. Walter was predeceased by his daughter, Sarah Marie, parents Walter and Marge, and sister Linda Beery.

Walter became famous for his love of Fantasy and Science Fiction Literature; in 1980, he published one of the only major studies of the use of languages in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature: Aliens and Linguists. It was this work that established him as a dominant figure in Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Criticism and a pursuit that he found particularly satisfying. His in-depth knowledge of canonical writers like Clive Staples Lewis and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien lead to him developing the curriculum for two of the most popular literature classes taught at NCSU: ENG 376: Science Fiction Literature and ENG 377: Fantasy Literature. He acted as Faculty advisor to the NCSU Gamers’ Club (an Old-School Table-Top Role-Playing group) and was a core member of the Science Fiction Research Association.

A funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, April 19th, 2022, at 11:00 AM at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Cary, North Carolina.