James Ward Lee

Submitted By jlk0041 on Thu, 07/25/2024 - 11:28am

James Ward LeeDr. James Ward Lee, 93, Professor Emeritus of English who worked at UNT from 1958 to 1999, died July 8 in Denton. During his time at UNT he was chair of the Department of English, a founder of the Center for Texas Studies, and an author and editor at the UNT Press.

He served in the U.S. Navy on the destroyers USS Renshaw and USS Radford during the Korean War and later, aboard the Radford, observed above-ground hydrogen bomb tests in the South Pacific.

Jim then used the G.I. Bill to pay for his education, earning a bachelor’s from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s from Auburn before doing further graduate work at the University of Arkansas. He joined North Texas as an instructor in English, and after a short leave to complete his Ph.D. at Auburn, he returned to move up the ranks to full professor and chair of the department.

In 1986, he became the director for the new Center for Texas Studies, working with coordinating director and resident professor of Texas studies A.C. Greene. The center was the first of its kind in the state, serving as a clearinghouse for Texas literature, art, geography, history and politics, as well as sponsoring conferences and undertaking projects on Texas life and culture. Jim received the President’s Award, then the highest honor bestowed by the university, in 1988.

He was the editor of 1941: Texas Goes to War, published by the UNT Press in 1991 as part of the center’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and Texas’ entry into World War II. He also was the author of Texas My Texas, The Girls of the Golden West and A Texas Jubilee, among other books. A well-known folklorist, he would fictionalize colorful characters from his childhood in rural Alabama and reset them in his adopted state.

He was past president of the Texas Folklore Society and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He received the A.C. Greene Award, given annually to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement, during the West Texas Book Festival.

After retiring from UNT, he moved to Fort Worth, working as an editor for the TCU Press and continuing to write. He had just moved back to Denton this year. At his request, no services are planned. He will be interred at the Bold Springs Presbyterian Cemetery in Leeds, Alabama, alongside his parents.

Dr. James Ward Lee, 93, Professor Emeritus of English who worked at UNT from 1958 to 1999, died July 8 in Denton. During his time at UNT he was chair of the Department of English, a founder of the Center for Texas Studies, and an author and editor at the UNT Press.

He served in the U.S. Navy on the destroyers USS Renshaw and USS Radford during the Korean War and later, aboard the Radford, observed above-ground hydrogen bomb tests in the South Pacific.

Jim then used the G.I. Bill to pay for his education, earning a bachelor’s from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s from Auburn before doing further graduate work at the University of Arkansas. He joined North Texas as an instructor in English, and after a short leave to complete his Ph.D. at Auburn, he returned to move up the ranks to full professor and chair of the department.

In 1986, he became the director for the new Center for Texas Studies, working with coordinating director and resident professor of Texas studies A.C. Greene. The center was the first of its kind in the state, serving as a clearinghouse for Texas literature, art, geography, history and politics, as well as sponsoring conferences and undertaking projects on Texas life and culture. Jim received the President’s Award, then the highest honor bestowed by the university, in 1988.

He was the editor of 1941: Texas Goes to War, published by the UNT Press in 1991 as part of the center’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and Texas’ entry into World War II. He also was the author of Texas My Texas, The Girls of the Golden West and A Texas Jubilee, among other books. A well-known folklorist, he would fictionalize colorful characters from his childhood in rural Alabama and reset them in his adopted state.

He was past president of the Texas Folklore Society and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He received the A.C. Greene Award, given annually to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement, during the West Texas Book Festival.

After retiring from UNT, he moved to Fort Worth, working as an editor for the TCU Press and continuing to write. He had just moved back to Denton this year. At his request, no services are planned. He will be interred at the Bold Springs Presbyterian Cemetery in Leeds, Alabama, alongside his parents.

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