This description of the Oxford scholar in the General Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales aptly applies to John Reilly. Professor Emeritus at Holy Cross College, John brings an infectious love of language and literature in his Monday afternoon classes. Currently deep into Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, this class is so filled with enthusiastic interchange and intellectual curiosity it requires the teacher to be at the top of his game to keep the peace. Make no mistake, these “seniors” are not in their last year at the prestigious Worcester college but are residents living at The Overlook Life Care Community, in Charlton, MA, and their professor (an Overlook resident as well) insists that this class brings more wisdom and vibrancy to the learning experience than he can recall in any other over his fifty years of teaching. In fact, last semester he invested in one of those little call bells he resorts to now and then, principally in jest, to return some order to the proceedings. If the idea of “retirement” conjures up images of folks reclining passively in front of televisions, you clearly have not been to The Overlook!
John Reilly has had a long and varied academic career. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from New York University, he went on to graduate school at Rutgers University, earning a Masters in English Literature. From there it was on to the University of Virginia where he was awarded a fellowship. In Virginia, John earned his Doctorate in English and American Literature with special attention to Edgar Allan Poe, upon whom he wrote his dissertation, and became a Poe Scholar. It was also in Virginia that he met and married Madeline Del Torto, a social worker and school teacher and now his wife of fifty-three years who resides with him at The Overlook.
John was drawn to New England by the unparalleled research opportunities that exist in the area. In addition to the enormous resources at Harvard, Brown University, Boston Public Library and other research facilities, he adds that he was, “particularly enticed by The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester which houses one of the world’s finest collections of American imprints (printed literature) from the beginning through the nineteenth century. The opportunity to do research in such a priceless collection is a literary scholar’s dream come true.” With this motivation he joined the faculty of Holy Cross College in Worcester in 1968, where he taught literature for twenty-two years and was sometime chair of the English Department.
Professor Reilly attributes his long tenure in teaching to a love of language and literature in general and a love of poetry in particular. He is quick to point out, however, that “among the problems with our American culture is that we erroneously believe that poetry and testosterone don’t mix! Very few men will consider taking a poetry class because they think that somehow it is incompatible with their masculinity, when the fact is that the majority of our greatest poets were men, e.g., Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Robert Frost, and so forth.” “It is in poetry,” John argues, “that we find the best thoughts, by the best minds, expressed in the best manner.”
After decades at one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country, John maintains that his classroom experience with senior populations since his retirement is by far his most rewarding. “Teaching seniors is a pedagogical paradise,” he asserts, “not only because there are no quizzes, exams, or papers to grade and no final grades to mull over, but above all because everyone present, including the instructor, is there for the pure joy of learning. Seniors bring wisdom to the learning environment that younger students simply do not possess. It is especially exciting to explore classics with them, classics like The Scarlet Letter and Moby-Dick, which they no doubt read sixty odd years earlier. Only now, however, the insights that come with age, experience, and understanding make the classroom encounters much richer.”
It is a privilege to have John Reilly among the ranks of the vital population at The Overlook. He and his wife are comforted by all the amenities and services the full Life Care campus offers. They feel secure in the knowledge that while they are freed up to pursue interests that attract them, there is a complete continuum of services available should they need it. In return, this accomplished gentleman gives back to his community by keeping a love of learning alive and well, even if it does require an occasional bell-ringing to dampen the excitement!
