Maurice Isaac Bassan

April 22, 1929 - November 6, 2017

“And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.” Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, Prologue, l. 308

Maurice Bassan left this “mortal coil” on November 6, 2017, at 5: 45am. He slipped away peacefully at Kaiser Hospital, holding the hand of Sharon, his beloved daughter- in- law who brought him great comfort. He died in the city he loved so much, on a gorgeous San Francisco day: clear, sunny and cold. He was 88. Maurice was born April 22, 1929, in New York City, and raised in The Bronx. His father Isaac was from Bulgaria; his mother Matilda was from Thessaloniki, Greece. The family spoke Ladino, a Judaeo- Spanish language renowned for its rich literature. Maurice served in the United States Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War. He was a life- long liberal; he marched in union parades in Manhattan, in support of the student strike at SFSU in 1968, and in the streets of San Francisco in the years of U. S. aggression in Vietnam and Iraq. Maurice met his beloved wife Ellanore in Tucson, Arizona, and they fled the desert with their daughter Lou Ann in 1960. Arriving for the first time in fog- shrouded San Francisco, Ellanore vowed to live nowhere else ( except foggy London). Their son David Nathaniel Bassan was born in San Francisco in 1961. In 1968, they purchased their beloved home on Masonic Avenue, and filled it with mementos and antiques from their travels to England, Spain and Italy. Ellanore died on April 16, 2004. Maurice remained in the family home until he moved to The Carlisle, a senior care community, in 2010. He developed many close friends there. Maurice and Ellanore were generous supporters of the San Francisco Opera; the San Francisco Ballet; American Conservatory Theater; 42nd Street Moon ( he was an advisor to this troupe devoted to the preservation and performance of “lost” musical theater); and The Young People’s Teen Musical Theatre Company ( to support gifted teens). They especially loved the Peanuts gang: Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the Little Red- Haired Girl ( who reminded them of Lou Ann). Their favorite activity was to take a mileslong walk through the Presidio, then see a movie, and then eat dinner at a favorite restaurant. Daylight Saving Time always irked them – and Maurice passed away the day after we returned to standard time. Maurice was a Professor of English for over 50 years. His academic career started at New York University ( B. A., 1951, M. A., 1952), then University of California, Berkeley ( Ph. D., 1961). He taught at the University of Arizona – Tucson, at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and was a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Valladolid in Spain. In 1963, he accepted a professorship at San Francisco State University. He retired to part- time basis in 1994 and became Professor Emeritus of English in 1998. Maurice taught a variety of courses in American and British literature specializing in the American Transcendentalists and in modern drama. He never missed a day of teaching. After retirement, Maurice taught classes at the Fromm Institute for about 15 years; his classes were wildly popular and he only stopped teaching when his knees failed him and he could no longer walk. It was at SFSU that he met Hoosag Gregory ( godfather to his children) and Manfred Wolf, who became his best friends.

Maurice’s books include Stephen Crane: Twentieth Century Interpretations: A Collection of Critical Essays ( 1967), Hawthorne’s Son: The Life and Literary Career of Julian Hawthorne ( 1970), Haight Ashbury Sketches ( writing as Morris Bassan) ( 2003), Twice- Told Poems ( 2008) ( lively modern prose versions of famous poems by Chaucer, Spenser, Blake, Whitman and others), and The Flying Padre – A Political Novel of the 1960s ( 2009) which vividly portrayed the idealistic student rebellions of the 1960s, and the forces of conservatism in both government and academia that crushed them. Maurice had numerous published scholarly articles. He was a member of the Modern Language Association, The Stephen Crane Society, The Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, and The Melville Society. Maurice was a founding member of The Friends of J. Paul Leonard Library ( FOL) at SFSU, and through the years, he contributed financially, bought life- time memberships for family, and donated hours and hours of his time to manning the desk at FOL and chatting up everyone who came into the Booksale Room, serving on the Board of Directors, and scouring garage sales for used books to donate to FOL. He and Ellanore established a scholarship fund at SFSU in 2000 for graduate students in Literature. Maurice also sang as a tenor in the Jewish Folk Chorus for many years. As a hobby, Maurice also started and ran, with Ellanore’s constant help, David’s Records, a record store in a tiny pizza- slice shaped shop on 14th Street / Market. What records ( LPs) were not in the shop were brought home, the weight of which literally caused the floors to sag.

The last year was extremely difficult for Maurice, as he was in constant, severe pain from bone on bone arthritis in both shoulders, and he had become dependent on a wheelchair because of his failed knee surgeries. Thankfully, he did not suffer from dementia. And he passed away with a full head of silver curls. Now he rests in peace and joins Ellanore in spirit, inurned together at the San Francisco Columbarium.

Maurice is survived by Lou Ann ( Larry Klingenberg); David ( Sharon Huang Bassan)

and their five children, whom Maurice adored: Nathaniel, Ellanore, Celia, Hamilton, and Morrison; daughter Sarah Wolbach ( Roy Sorrels), Santa Fe, NM; older sister Susan Warren, Bethesda, MD; and nephews Steve Warren and Cliff Warren.

Maurice never stopped teaching, or explaining “lie v. lay: Hens lay eggs ( d. o.).” He was grateful for his public school education at the Bronx High School of Science and the teachers who inspired him. He in turn passed on this ideal to his own family, friends and students. He influenced his children and grandchildren to strive for educational achievements as the key to opening doors; he nurtured their intellects and paid them 25 cents per book report; he instilled a love of books in everyone he met, usually having a book as a gift at any occasion; and his generosity of learning is unparalleled. He was so proud of Lou Ann becoming an attorney and teacher, David an architect, Sarah an editor, and Larry a lecturer in Electrical Engineering at SFSU and taking up piano at 71. Maurice lived by his philosophy of “both / and -- not either / or.” One of his greatest lessons was to always question authority – particularly if it was a government agency or edict ( he was immensely proud of his redacted FBI file). His children have certainly abided by that. Lou Ann says: “I am my father’s daughter.” We are saddened that his great intellectual spirit and ruminations on Moby- Dick, Melville, Hawthorne, Dickinson, Poe, Thoreau, Twain, Stephen Crane, Eugene O’Neill, Hemingway, etc., are silenced forever. Books are his legacy!