Walter Thomas Tatara

Walter T. Tatara, Emeritus Professor of English at Plymouth State University passed away on March 16th, 2013. He was born one of five children in Amsterdam N.Y. on August 5th, 1926. He was the son of Thomas and Aniela Tatara and spent his childhood years in Amsterdam and graduated from Amsterdam High School. He was elected President of the senior class. Dr. Tatara served in the United States Navy as a signalman during World War II in the Pacific theater from 1944-1946. He did his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University and Bellarmine College. He then attended New York University where he received his Master of Arts and Ph. D. in English Education. After teaching in the New York City high schools for seven years, he became a member of the Plymouth State College English Department in 1962. During his thirty-two years at the college, he wrote numerous articles related to the teaching of literature and film. He received many grants and gave presentations throughout the state on subjects such as Robert Frost, New Hampshire's Heritage Trail and a program that explored the possibility of a more simple life through the development and use of alternative sources of energy. Henry David Thoreau's exhortation for a more simple life was related to this program, which was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Tatara was a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the Modern Language Association, The American Film Institute, the Society for Cinema Studies and several other academic organizations. He enjoyed a lifetime of reading literature and viewing and teaching film. In his youth he enjoyed camping in the Adirondack Mountains and, after moving to the lakes region of New Hampshire, he and his wife and family enjoyed summers at their cottage on Whortleberry Island on Lake Winnipesaukee. His wife of forty-three years, Madeline, predeceased him on September 15, 2001. Family members are his son, Eric Tatara of Chelmsford, Massachusetts and his daughter Melanie Tatara, of Seattle, Washington and three grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ALS Association of Northern New England, The Concord Center, 10 Ferry Street, Suite 438, Box 314, Concord, NH 03301, in memory of his wife, Madeline.

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Walter Thomas Tatara

August 5, 1926 - March 16, 2013