By Вen Li
It was standing-room only at Dr. Barry Isaac’s wake. Over 150 friends, relatives, colleagues and students filled the Crescent Heights Community Centre on the afternoon of Saturday, July 13 to remember a man who was more than just an English instructor.
"Barry had multiple lives as a teacher, scholar and as a life-long student," said Dr. James Black from the Department of English. "Barry educated me a lot about life."
Hemophilia prevented Dr. Isaac from obtaining a normal education as a child. To avoid potentially life-threatening scrapes and bruises from the school yard, he was home-schooled by his mother and earned his high-school diploma by correspondence.
At age 25, Dr. Isaac embarked on two new journeys. His first, was as husband to Joan. His second, as a non-matriculate English major at the University of Calgary. There, he earned his ba and ma in English Literature and taught undergraduate English.
"Then he did his phd, reportedly under my supervision," said Dr. Black. "He then proceeded to teach me of caring."
After preparing his 439-page dissertation on hermeticism in 17th century literature, Dr. Isaac continued as a sessional instructor for 11 years until 1997, when he became a full instructor.
Dr. Black also remembered Dr. Isaac’s fascination with alchemy and his transformation throughout life.
"He in fact alchemized himself-he transformed what he had to start with into something purely golden: knowledge and the ability to teach," said Dr. Black. "Barry started as pure potential, ready to be catalyzed into the scholar and teacher he became. The catalyst was Joan."
"Thirty-four years ago, most of my friends told me marriage wouldn’t work out and starting university wouldn’t work out," said widow Joan Isaac. "Ours was always a life of curiosity, gathering knowledge about other people, other cultures. Life was not always what we expected, but it was always interesting."
Students appreciated Dr. Isaac for teaching literature holistically and caring about his work. Among other subjects, Dr. Isaac taught courses in Shakespeare and fiction.
"Barry was a meticulous marker," said former student Robin Hanson. "He took great pains to give critical feedback. I never received anything back from him which was not drenched in green ink. He unearthed authors’ subtleties."
In addition to his work as a scholar and educator, many will remember Dr. Isaac for his instrumental efforts in fostering awareness of issues surrounding hemophilia. In 2000, he received the Canadian Hemophilia Society’s Frank Schnabel Award, honoring his distinguished service as a volunteer.
Davis Page from the Canadian Hemophilia Society remembered Dr. Isaac for his lobbying efforts in Ottawa.
"Barry has been active at the national level for 20 years. He was very important in our effort to get hiv compensation in the late ’80s," said Page. "We were two militants with socialist tendencies on the Hill."
In addition to his lobbying efforts, Dr. Isaac chaired the blood products safety committee, the awards committee and edited the Canadian Hemophilia Society newsletter.
Dr. Isaac passed away on Sunday, July 7, 2002 at the age of 59 after a brief illness and accidental overdose of his pain medication.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hemophilia Research Million Dollar Club, c/o Canadian Hemophilia Society, 625 President Kennedy, Suite 1210, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1K2.