Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 09:51:37 -1000
From: bradshaw@hawaii.edu

MARSHALL R. PIHL, renowned translator and leading scholar in the field of
Korean literature, died at his home over the weekend of July 8. He was 61.
Since early spring his health had been deteriorating, at first gradually
and then more and more rapidly. Nevertheless he diligently kept his
appointments and continued his research. At least outwardly, he remained
optimistic about recovery until the end.
        After graduating from Harvard College in 1960, where he majored in
Far Eastern languages, Marshall became the first Fulbright student grantee
in Korea, receiving an M.A. in Korean language and literature from Seoul
National University in 1965. He was the first Westerner to earn a graduate
degree from a Korean university. He then entered the doctoral program at
Harvard University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1974.
        During another Fulbright year in Korea in 1970-71, Marshall was
named the winner of the first annual Modern Korean Literature Translation
Award, sponsored by the _Korea Times_. His first collection of
translations, _Listening to Korea_, was published by Praeger in 1973.
Later he produced _The Good People: Korean Stories by Oh Young-su_,
published by Heinemann in 1985, and coedited (with Bruce and Ju-Chan
Fulton) _Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction_, published by M. E.
Sharpe/UNESCO in 1993. He also published many articles and translations
in periodicals such as _Korea Journal_ and _Korean Studies_ and in
collections such as Peter Lee's _Anthology of Korean Literature_ (1981)
and _Flowers of Fire_ (1986). But he was most proud of the beautifully
produced work that originated as his dissertation, _The Korean Singer of
Tales_, published by Harvard University's Council on East Asian Studies in
1994.
        Because he was a pioneer in a then-tiny field, Marshall was unable
to secure a full-time academic position and was forced to combine teaching
with administrative duties until he joined the Department of East Asian
Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawaii in 1989. Although
he was an exceptionally capable administrator, serving as associate
director and then director of the Harvard University Summer School from
1977 to 1987, he was thrilled to be able to devote full-time to teaching
and research in Hawaii.
        His contributions were well recognized at UH, where he received
tenure in 1992 and a promotion to full professor in 1995. His
administrative skills were also highly valued by his colleagues on the
executive committee of the Center for Korean Studies.
        Marshall was not just a fine scholar, but also a dedicated teacher
and an unfailingly generous, optimistic, and energetic mentor for junior
colleagues everywhere. He attracted a growing number of graduate students
into Korean literature, and always gave higher priority to their academic
advancement than to his own projects. Even in the two months before his
death he chaired one dissertation defense, two thesis defenses, and served
as outside member on several more.
        He had planned to devote his upcoming sabbatical to finishing
several of his own projects, including translating and condensing Cho
Dongil's comprehensive history of Korean literature and coediting several
textbooks in a series on Korean literature organized by the International
Korean Literature Association, which he helped establish in 1992.

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Marshall was an extraordinarily powerful person. I never spoke with him
without feeling infused with some of his energy and obvious love of life.
       Jonathan Petty, University of California, Berkeley


Not only was he a fine scholar who brought an incredible amount to the
field, but he was also simply an extraordinary human being--kind,
helpful, and generous to those around him and blessed with a terrific
sense of humor. His passing leaves not only a large vacuum in the field
but a huge void in the hearts of those who knew him.
        Stephen Epstein, Victoria University, Wellington