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WHAT
IS THE I S S ? |
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Brief History |
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Founding
of the International Shaw Society (“The ISS”) was first discussed at a Shaw
Conference at Marquette University in April of 2001, and the ISS was
successfully founded in principle at a “Shaw Summit” on August 24th, 2002, at
the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, with the details
of its scope and operation yet to be worked out. To discuss and vote on such matters, a
second “Shaw Summit” was scheduled in the new Shaw Festival Theatre Library
in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, on August 20th, 2003. A decision was made at that time to apply
for not-for-profit, tax-exempt status, and Professor Richard Dietrich of the
University of South Florida was elected Acting President to oversee the
transformation of the ISS into a full-fledged, legally-established,
dues-paying literary society. As of
January 30, 2004, the ISS was legally established as a 501(c)(3) corporation
with the U.S. federal government and the state of Florida, with Professor
Dietrich elected as its Founding President, in which capacity he served for
the first six years, 2004-2009. The
second ISS President was Professor Leonard Conolly of Trent University,
serving from 2010-2012. The third ISS
President was Professor Michael O’Hara of Ball State University, serving from
2013-2018. The fourth ISS President is
Professor Robert Gaines of Auburn University at Montgomery, beginning in
2019. |
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The
International Shaw Society will provide a means for those interested in the
life, times, works, and career of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw and his
circle to organize their activities and interests, exchange information and
ideas, and promote an interest in Shaw worldwide. |
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The acronym for
the International Shaw Society, “ISS,” is especially appropriate to emphasize
Shaw’s continuing presence in the contemporary world as a talkative spirit
with very relevant things to say, and the suggestion of a hiss on “ISS”
evokes Shaw’s portrayal of the serpent in the Garden of Eden (in Back to Methuselah) as a friend to man
in encouraging the species to grow and learn, rather than to continue stuck
in the old, stagnant, often self-destructive ways. The Shavian voice, urging Homo sapiens to grow up, has never
been more needed. Growing up, in
fact, is probably what Shaw had in mind when he urged evolving to Homo super, “the Superman.” Desperate metaphors for desperate
times! Which will always be with us
until we do grow up. Shaw’s
“Superman,” by the way, has nothing to do with either the Nazi version of
WWII or the Clark Kent comic book version.
See his play Man and Superman,
which satirizes the only character who sometimes imagines himself a Superman. A
father for it, maybe, but even that he resists. |
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ISS PLANNERS, FOUNDERS & FOUNDING ISS
COUNCIL
Below is, first, the list of people who attended
either the August 24th, 2002 Planning Committee meeting or the
August 20th, 2003 meeting, or both, supplemented by a few who did
not attend but who later agreed to serve as members of the founding Advisory
Board and/or as signatories on applications for non-profit status, followed
by a list of the founding ISS Council, composed of an Executive Committee and
an Advisory Committee. Last but not least are the Founding Members of the ISS
who acquired membership in 2004. |
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I S S F O U N D E R S |
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Sidney P. Albert Elaine Amromin Alan Andrews Stuart Baker Elisa Beshero-Bondar Ron Bryden Charles A. Carpenter Nancy Cole Tracy Collins Leonard Conolly MaryAnn Crawford |
Monty Davis Sara Deats R. F. Dietrich Lori Ruse-Dietrich Bernard Dukore Anthony Ellis Evelyn Ellis Frances Evans T. F. Evans Tony Gibbs Nicholas Grene |
Peter Gahan Chistopher Innes Norma Jenckes Denis Johnston Mitchell Klein Lagretta Lenker Gale Larson Kay Li Barry Morse Rhoda Nathan Michel Pharand |
John Pfeiffer David Rose Ann Saddlemyer Isidor Saslav Julie Sparks Jay Tunney Tramble T. Turner Rodelle Weintraub Stanley Weintraub Don Wilmeth |
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I S S C O U N C I L |
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E X E C U T I V E |
A D V I S O R Y |
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R. F. Dietrich, President
<dietrich@usf.edu> Don Wilmeth, Vice President
<Don_Wilmeth@brown.edu> Lagretta Lenker, Treasurer
<Llenker@admin.usf.edu> Norma Jenckes, Recording Secretary
<norma.jenckes@uc.edu > Lori Ruse-Dietrich, Membership Secretary <lruse@tampabay.rr.com> |
Sidney Albert Charles Berst Leonard Conolly Bernard Dukore T. F. Evans Anthony Gibbs Nicholas Grene Denis Johnston --------------------------- Jacques Barzun, Honorary Eric Bentley, Honorary |
Dan H. Laurence Martin Meisel Rhoda Nathan Margot Peters Sally Peters Ann Saddlemyer Al Turco ----------------------------- Ron Bryden, Honorary Barry Morse, Honorary |
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MEMBERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE FOUNDING OF THE ISS
-- 2004 |
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FOUNDING PARTNERS ($500 OR MORE)
Sidney Albert
Charles & Roelina
Berst
John & Mary Ellen
Bertolini
Tracy Collins
Richard Dietrich
Tony Gibbs
Aubrey Hampton &
Susan Hussey
John Pfeiffer
Margot Peters
FOUNDING SPONSORS ($200 OR MORE)
Stuart Baker
Leonard Conolly
Lori Dietrich
Norma Jenckes
Gale Larson
Lagretta Lenker
Jean Reynolds
Jay Tunney
Al Turco
Rodelle and Stan
Weintraub
Don Wilmeth
FOUNDING CONTRIBUTORS ($50 OR MORE)
Alan Andrews
Thomas Bahring
Albert Braverman
Al Carpenter
Wendi Chen
Nancy Cole
Mary C. Crane
Sara Deats
Howard Einsohn
Peter Gahan
Husne Jahan
Mitchell Klein
Dan H. Laurence
Martin Meisel
Michael O’Hara
Sally Peters
Harold Pagliaro
Michel Pharand
Gary A. Richardson
Nelson Ritschel
Ann Saddlemyer
Isidor Saslav
Julie Sparks
Tramble T. Turner
Nicholas Williams
Jonathan Wisenthal
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Elaine Amromin
Alan Andrews
George Austin
Cary Barney
Patrick Berry
Michael Bertin
Elisa Beshero-Bondar
A.
K. Bhatt
Ronald Bryden
Toni Burke
Richard Cheski
James Chow
Glenda Cimino
Nancy Cole
Mary C. Crane
MaryAnn Crawford
Sara Deats
Vincent Dowling
Bernard Dukore
Anthony Ellis
Evelyn Ellis
Kathleen Erwin
Michael Fountain
Peter Gahan
Robert Gaines
Angela Grayson
Nicholas Grene
Polly Guerin
Cynthia Halpern
Kim Hanna
Arthur Horowitz
Christopher Innes
Denis Johnston
Gale Larson
Kay Li
Valerie Lipscomb
John MacDonald
Masahiko Masumoto
Jackie Maxwell
Donal McManus
Charles Mehler
Hisashi Morikawa
Rhoda Nathan
Sasha Normand
Mia Nottoli
Julius Novick
Donall O’Luanaigh--National
Library of Ireland
Zeljka, Radelic
Rosemarie Rowley
Lynn Marie Ruse
Travis Ruse
Toshhiko Sato
Hannes Schweiger
Totaro Shimamura
Rev. Alexander Seabrook
Julie Sparks
P. S. Sri
Margaret Taylor
Michael Timko
Joy Timko
Douglas Warsett
Susan Warsett
Leo Wong
Christa Zorn
HONORARY MEMBERS
Jacques Barzun
Eric Bently
Tom and Frances Evans
Peter French (USF at
Sarasota VP)
Dan H. Laurence
Barry Morse
Laurie Stryker (USF at Sarasota CEO)
Joan Templeton (Ibsen Society
President)
Webmaster: RFD (dietrich@usf.edu)