I have to report the sad news that Professor Greenstadt died on February 9, 2024, peacefully, after a long and brave struggle with cancer. Amy graduated from our department in 2000, and converted her dissertation into the brilliant book Rape and the Rise of the Author: Gendering Intention in Early Modern England (2009); I still include her provocative chapter on Milton’s masque Comus in my graduate seminar reading list. Amy’s extraordinary synthesis of the histories of sexuality and authorship also generated important articles on topics that include closeting, circumcision and queer kinship in The Merchant of Venice and Aemilia Lanyer’s “pathetic phallacy” as she wittily put it; books and essay-collections launched as conference papers and nearing completion include Pricked Out: Genital Migrations in Early Modern Europe. At Portland State University in Oregon, she moved between the English Department and the School of Film, reaching Full Professor in 2017, serving as Director of Literary Studies, organizing conferences and winning two Outstanding Teacher Awards. Four years ago Amy took early retirement for health reasons. Since then she kept up her scholarly and creative life with phenomenal energy and fidelity, singing and playing the bongos, learning new languages, cartooning, painting in watercolors and oils – and of course writing. For some twenty years, right up to last week, Amy Greenstadt stayed in touch with mentors and friends via newsletters, generating new book ideas and sharing her vivid artwork. It’s devastating to think that they will come no more.
-Professor James Grantham Turner