RIP Brian Southam

Marcia Huff of JASNA just reported the following sad news:

"Maureen Stiller, Secretary of the Jane Austen Society (UK), told me today that Brian Southam, former Chairman of the JAS, has died. Many JASNA members knew Brian, and many more are familiar with his extensive writing about Jane Austen."

To which I add:

RIP Brian Southam, without question one of the greatest Austen scholars of the 20th century, who most of all demonstrated, even in his later years, an openness to new ideas and a willingness to change his mind. And he was also a lovely gentleman.

ARNIE