Christopher William Konzelman

Christopher Konzelman, our beloved friend, co-worker, coach, and teacher, passed away in his adopted home of New York City on March 31, 2022. He was a life-long learner who valued words and their meanings more than just about anything, because as he often said, “Words matter.”

Chris was a Southern California native who graduated from Arcadia High School in 1985 and went on to study political science at Occidental College in neighboring Los Angeles. A short time later, in the fall of 1996, he began working at Garfield High School in East L.A. while continuing his studies at Cal State Los Angeles. At CSULA he studied rhetoric and composition under the great Marilyn Elkins and receiving his first masters of arts degree in 2004. Chris was active in his time at Garfield, participating in the Computer Science Magnet, lobbying successfully for adding more AP English Language courses, and resurrecting the school’s speech and debate team. He was extremely passionate about his students, and talked proudly of their accomplishments, often staying in touch with them through graduate school and into the years after, often reuniting and dining with them when they came to town. In 2011 he, once again, made the choice to go back to school, this time to pursue his dream of studying creative writing. This would take him to New York, a city he made his second home. After the culmination of his studies there with a second masters in 2013, he began working at Purchase College (a part of the SUNY system north of Manhattan) as an adjunct professor and lecturer on writing which he continued for nearly a decade until his untimely passing last week.

Chris was an aficionado of many things, but none more so than scotch, cigars, and musicals. But it was his friends, students, and family, and the words that he shared between them that he perhaps valued the most. He is survived by his brother, sister, and mom, and will be missed by us all. He was only 55 years old, but he left a lasting impact on those of us lucky to know and work with him. He will be missed, but certainly never forgotten.