Remembering Gerald Russello (1971-2021)

View this email in your browser

Dear John,

I am deeply saddened to share that Gerald J. Russello, editor of the Kirk Center’s journal The University Bookman, passed away last week after a battle with brain cancer. Gerald was one of the most talented, productive, and joyful of men. While working as a partner at a major law firm in New York, he expressed his love of engagement with the intellectual and cultural life through the Bookman for the past sixteen years.

As editor of the Bookman, Gerald was widely known and many young writers credit him with giving them their first opportunity to appear in print. The outpouring of stories about Gerald’s mentorship has been tremendous on the Bookman’s social media, of which Gerald was a master.

This week’s University Bookman carries a collection of tributes to Gerald, including this fine appreciation by Senior Fellow Bruce Frohnen:

“As a kind, judicious, and imaginative editor, a political brother-in-arms, and an intellectual and spiritual companion he brought both comfort and joy to my life. And there was more, much more he provided through his writings and through his example and witness….

"As Gerald pointed out, and as he infused into his own literary criticism and legal and political commentary, it is the very integration of reason with imagination, couched in experience, faith, and love, that allows us to see and be fully a part of our families, churches, communities, and social order.

"This is why Gerald insisted that the journal he took over from Kirk, The University Bookman, review as many books on literature and the arts as on more politicized topics."

Turning to another aspect of Gerald’s character, Jack Fowler shares the humorous story of their friendship in Lunch Man: A Remembrance of Gerald Russello.

Russell and I first met Gerald at one of Russell’s lectures in Washington, D.C. when Gerald was an undergraduate at Georgetown University. He asked for suggestions on which books to read to round out his education and Russell invited him to review for the Bookman. Later, he spent a few weeks as a Wilbur fellow at the Kirk Center, writing about Christopher Dawson and Orestes Brownson. He was often in contact with me and Kirk scholars while researching for what became his groundbreaking book, The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk.

As Glen Sproviero writes of Gerald’s scholarship: “he saw the postmodern imagination as one capable of being shaped by a moral imagination sowed in the fruitful fields of Christian humanism."

A practicing attorney, Gerald joined the Board of Advisors for the Center’s Society for Law and Culture. Gerald delivered a wonderful presentation titled “Kirk, Brownson, and Territorial Democracy,” at the Society’s inaugural gathering.

Requiescat in pace, Gerald J. Russello (1971-2021)

In The Law’s Good Servant, but God’s First, David Bonagura expresses well how Gerald’s deep Catholic faith underpinned his life and work:

“The breadth of Gerald’s intellectual interests was complemented by the magnanimity of his soul. He was a faithful steward in so many fields and to so many people. But there was never a doubt that he served others because he was God’s servant first. May he share in the reward of his divine Master forever.”

In his 50 years on this earth, Gerald accomplished so much good and we will always be grateful for his dedication to the Bookman. His influence, both intellectually and personally, will continue to be felt in the years to come.

Best,

Annette Y. Kirk, President
The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal

The Russell Kirk Center

PO Box 4

Mecosta, MI 49332

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.