I met Mike in 1982 before ever taking a class of his, as he was a force in the English Dept. @ Western MI Univ. when I was a student there. As an undergraduate a little later in time I had Mike as a professor in a Freudian/Marxian Literary Criticism seminar, which was both lively and learned. He was the most exacting reader I've personally met, whose capacious note-taking/self indexing informed my own later reading habits. As a grad student, I was his assistant in Gen. Ed. literature/lecture course for non-majors that spanned the history of Western Literature and attracted more than 50 students each semester. His natural charisma was matched in this setting only by the breadth and depth of the course readings that he chose: The students who signed up for this course were quickly disabused of any anticipation of an easy work load or easy grades. I also took a grad seminar focused on various types of literary criticism au currant (c. 1990). He was my favorite and most influential instructor during the years I was a budding academic. More importantly, however, he was my friend for all those years until his death. He and his wife, Elaine, have been our (Amy's and my) dear friends over the years. I was fortunate to see Mike one last time the day he died, and I will miss him the rest of my life. He was a dear, erudite, vivacious and funny man, who loved to read, write, collect books, entertain, etc., etc. He was a rarity in this era, and I'm very glad to have known and been friends w/ him.

Posted by scott a matteson on February 3, 2026

My husband and I were discussing influential teachers who brought Shakespeare to life for us and I immediately thought of Mike. Imagine both by joy to learn he loved such a full life, and dismay that I never shared with him my gratitude. I met Mike in 1991 in a Shakespeare class that I took despite it not counting toward my major. It was worth every word I read and wrote that semester. Mike encouraged, challenged, and enjoyed the exploration of literature by his students. He was a delight as a teacher and a joy as a human.

Posted by Margaret Odoherty Nelson on January 31, 2026