Lee W. Patterson, a noted scholar of medieval literature and the Frederick W. Hilles Professor Emeritus of English at Yale, died at home on June 29. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on July 12 in Battell Chapel, corner of College and Elm streets. His family has set up a website.
Professor Patterson, who earned his B.A. from Yale in 1962 and his Ph.D. from the University in 1968, focused his research and teaching on Medieval literature of Europe, especially England and Chaucer, and on Modernism, with a particular interest in James Joyce. His first book, Negotiating the Past, is credited with helping to revive interest in Medieval studies, and his 1991 book, Chaucer and the Subject of History, is widely hailed as the most important study of Chaucer in the 20th century. In addition to three other books on Chaucer, he also wrote numerous articles.
For the complete article on Lee Patterson visit news.yale.edu.