ROBERT F. SAYRE ’55

ROBERT F. SAYRE, emeritus professor of English at the University of Iowa, died Apr. 16, 2014. He was 80. The son of Harrison M. Sayre of the class of 1916, who was the founder and publisher of My Weekly Reader, and the brother of the late James W. Sayre ’46, M.D., he served in the U.S. Navy after receiving his degree with honors and distinction. He earned his PhD. From Yale University. After teaching at the University of Illinois and as a Fulbright Scholar in Sweden, he received a Guggenheim award to conduct research at Princeton University. In 1965 he moved to the University of Iowa, whee he taught in the English department and American Studies program for 33 years. His primary academic focus was autobiography, and his anthology, American Lives, was published in 1994. His love of Iowa’s natural and social history led him to edit a series of books that championed a greater appreciation of his adopted home state, and he did the same for Fire Island, New York, where he and his family summered. He was also active in many sports and in community organizations and causes. Among those who survive are his wife, Hutha Colby Sayre, whom he married in 1988; three children, two stepchildren, and seven grandchildren. He was also the uncle of Dixon F. Miller ’69, Robert K. McNamara ’73, Jean S. McNamara ’77, and of Elizabeth W. McNamara ’83.