You are on page 1of 3

Centenary College Professor Named "Jack London Man of the Year"

Shreveport, LA, March 23, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Earle Labor, Emeritus Professor of American Literature
and Director of the Jack London Research Center at Centenary College, has been honored as the "Jack
London Man of the Year 2011" by the Jack London Foundation. The award was recently presented to Dr.
Labor at the 41st Annual Jack London Banquet in Sonoma, Calif.

Among those in attendance were Labor's wife Gayle, his son Kirk, Professor Per Serritslev Petersen from
the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and Centenary alumna Jeanne Campbell Reesman, who delivered an
address on her new book, Jack London, Photographer.

Recognized as the world's leading Jack London scholar, Labor taught the first course on London ever
offered in the United States as a Visiting Professor at Utah State University in 1966, and the first Jack
London course ever presented in Western Europe as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Aarhus in
1974. After returning from Denmark, he worked to initiate a student-teacher exchange program between
the University of Aarhus and Centenary College.

In 1988, with the encouragement and support of Jack London's great-nephew Milo Shepard, Centenary
alumnus Samuel Peters, and then College President Donald Webb, Dr. Labor established Centenary's
unique Jack London Museum and Research Center. He has directed four Summer Seminars for Teachers
sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which have included participants from
Germany, the Philippines, Albania and the Congo.

Dr. Labor was honored in 2000 by election into the International Association of Professors, and in 2007
received a letter of commendation from the Director of Secretariat, University of Aarhus, for his “untiring
contribution to international understanding and scholarly cooperation.” Among his numerous other
honors are memberships in the Omicron Delta Kappa Society and Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1991, he
was honored as “Humanist of the Year” by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities; and in 1999,
the Shreveport Times cited him as one of the “100 Influential People in Northwest Louisiana over the
Past 100 Years.”

During the past half-century, Professor Labor has published eight books and nearly one hundred articles
on Jack London. In 1974, his Jack London, the first book-length critical study of this celebrated author's
works, received a “5 Star” rating in The West Coast Review of Books. The 1988 Stanford University
Press three-volume edition of London's Letters, co-edited with Robert C. Leitz and Milo Shepard, was
accorded front-page reviews in both The New York Times and The [London] Times Literary Supplement.
In 1990 the Authorized Macmillan Edition of London's Short Stories, also co-edited with Leitz and
Shepard, was featured by the Book-of-the-Month Club. Viking/Penguin Books published Labor's
selection of London's representative writings in their prestigious Portable Series in 1994.

All of these and many other memorabilia are currently on display in the Samuel Peters Building at
Centenary. Labor's definitive Jack London biography, Jack London: An American Life is scheduled for
release next year by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Publishers.

Page 1/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use
Although retired from full-time teaching, Dr. Labor still maintains his office on the Centenary Campus
and presents his Jack London Seminar each fall semester.

The Jack London Educational Research Foundation Inc. was established in August, 1976, to maintain
source material and memorabilia in addition to promoting research activities of the life and work of Jack
London. Aside from offering free assistance to writers, researchers and others interested in Jack London,
the Foundation sponsors a monthly Jack London Reading Group, as well as resources for Jack London
seminars and symposia.

###

Page 2/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use
Contact Information:
Centenary College of Louisiana
Rick DelaHaya
318.869.5073
rdelahaya@centenary.edu
centenary.edu

Online Version of Press Release:


You can read the online version of this press release at: http://www.pr.com/press-release/308041

Page 3/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use

You might also like