Alfred Appel Obituary

Appel Jr., Alfred born January 31, 1934, Professor of English Emeritus at Northwestern University, where he taught for over thirty years, died on May 2, 2009, in Evanston, IL, at 75, from heart failure. A service will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, May 6, 2009, at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, 1076 Madison Ave., New York, NY. He received his BA and PhD in English Literature from Columbia University. A former student and a foremost scholar of Vladimir Nabokov, Mr. Appel published "The Annotated Lolita" (In print since 1970; rev. ed. 1991) and "Nabokov's Dark Cinema" (1974). Later in his career, he turned his attention to modern art in all its forms -- literature, photography, painting and music -- and published, all with Alfred A. Knopf, "Signs of Life" (1983); "The Art of Celebration: The Expression of Joy In 20th Century Art, Literature, Photography and Music" (1992); and "Jazz Modernism: From Ellington and Armstrong to Matisse and Joyce." "Jazz Modernism" won the 2003 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for outstanding coverage of music. Appel also received a Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation; a Fellowship from The Rockefeller Foundation; and was awarded one from the National Endowment for the Arts as well. At the time of his death, Appel was deeply immersed in a new book about World War II and the effects upon the nation of subtle propaganda designed to prepare the public for the coming war. He was also working on a book about Louis Armstrong. Appel is Survived by his wife of 51 years, Nina S. Appel, the Dean Emerita and Professor of Law at Loyola University School of Law in Chicago; his mother, Beatrice H. Appel of New York, NY; his two children, Karen A. (Gene) Oshman of Houston, TX, and Richard Appel of Venice, CA; four grandchildren (Stephen and Katherine Oshman and Gabriel and Grace Jandali-Appel); his sister, Elizabeth A. (Paul) Schaffer of New York, NY; and his brother, John Appel (Barbara Walkowitz) of Chicago, IL. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Mr. Appel's name to the Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkwy., Wilmington, Delaware, 19806.