About Scott Abbott
I received my Ph.D. in German Literature from Princeton University in 1979. Then I taught at Vanderbilt University, BYU, and Utah Valley State College. At Utah Valley University, I directed the Program in Integrated Studies for its initial 13 years and was also Chair of the Department of Humanities and Philosophy for three years. My publications include a book on Freemasonry and the German Novel, two co-authored books with Zarko Radakovic (REPETITIONS and VAMPIRES & A REASONABLE DICTIONARY, published in Serbo-Croatian in Belgrade and in English with Punctum Books), a book with Sam Rushforth (WILD RIDES AND WILDFLOWERS, Torrey House Press), a "fraternal meditation" called IMMORTAL FOR QUITE SOME TIME (University of Utah Press), and translations of three books by Austrian author Peter Handke, of an exhibition catalogue called "The German Army and Genocide," and, with Dan Fairbanks, of Gregor Mendel's important paper on hybridity in peas. More famously, my children are in the process of creating good lives for themselves: as a model and dance/yoga studio manager, as a teacher of Chinese language, as an ecologist and science writer, as a jazz musician, as a parole officer, as a contractor, as a seasonal worker (Alaska and Park City, Utah), and as parents. I share my life with UVU historian Lyn Bennett, with whom I have written a cultural history of barbed wire -- THE PERFECT FENCE (Texas A&M University Press). Some publications at http://works.bepress.com/scott_abbott/
An email today from Zarko: Dear Scott, I am shaken by the death of my friend Era. This man may have been the most important person in my life. . . . Everything I know and am related to art … Continue reading →
These images are from the catalogue for the exhibition just mounted by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City. The exhibition will be open until June. As you can see, the catalogue is a brilliant expansion and … Continue reading →
I was walking past our neighbor’s alfalfa field yesterday and saw this: Richard Long has been visiting our town! That was my immediate conclusion. He makes or witnesses lines in natural settings, like this one from his book “Mountains and … Continue reading →
Several times a week I walk up and down the foothills our town of Woodland Hills perches on. Santaquin Peak and Tower Mountain rise above us to the southeast and east, Utah Valley stretches away to the north. I carry … Continue reading →
While holding congressional hearings aimed at terminating treaty rights of various Native American tribes, Senator Arthur K. Watkins, Utah, wrote to leaders of the LDS church (13 April 1954): The more I go into this Indian problem the more I … Continue reading →
This evening I finished reading Marilynne Robinson’s new novel Jack. A blurb on the back cover says that Robinson “is one of the great religious novelists. . . .” Another blurb talks about her “spiritual force.” President Obama listed this … Continue reading →
A year ago today we held a funeral for our mother. She died on December 3, just short of the age of 91. Here are a few of the thoughts I expressed at that time: Mom was born in Salt … Continue reading →
On a bright November morning, with hope for relief from nationalist and xenophobic provocations by our current red-hatted narcicist-in-chief, I offer this translation of Peter Handke’s paean to “and” as opposed to “or” (from the book Once Again for Thucydides). … Continue reading →
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A beautiful fall day and I have time for a walk this afternoon. Like so often before—I’ve been walking this route for fifteen years—I pick up a smooth stone on the way down the hill, what Germans call a Handschmeichler—a … Continue reading →
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Tagged Basho, Leopold Federmair, nature, Paul Simon, Peter Handke, Pythagoras, Spinoza, Strava, the senses, time, vulture
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It’s no secret that I have developed an obsession with clouds. It’s not a scientific obsession like the one Richard Hamblyn describes in his book about Luke Howard—the Quaker amateur meteorologist who gave us words to name and thus classify … Continue reading →
