History of Literacy: AL TUCKER DIES OF HEART ATTACK

AL TUCKER DIES OF HEART ATTACK

History of Reading News. Vol.XXII No.2 (1999:Spring)

We were saddened to learn of the death of SIG member Albert B. Tucker on January 25, 1999. Al had been actively involved with the SIG since his first presentation at the 1993 meeting in San Antonio. At that time he was Professor and former Dean of Education at Sul Ross State University. His topic, "Reading Instruction in West Texas Rural Schools: 1933-1938," was based on oral histories he collected from teachers of one-room schools in the Texas Big Bend region.

The following year, Al was elected Member at Large and served in that capacity during the 1994-95 academic year. Later, he served as 2nd Vice-President for Membership (1995-96) and 1st Vice-President for Programs (1996-98). At the conclusion of his term as 1st Vice President, Al asked that his name not be submitted for the SIG presidency because he had accepted a new position as Director of Graduate Studies and Research at Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas. For a number of years prior, he was at Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas, where he held the rank of professor in the Department of Education.

Al's most recent contributions to our group were to chair the SIG meeting in Orlando; to organize the SIG program for San Diego; and to review a book for the fall, 1999, issue of the History of Reading News.

In recent years, Al had continued to pursue his research related to the early schools in far West Texas. He began his research in Brewster County, Texas, and later expanded into Presidio County. According to Tucker, many one-room schools once existed in the Big Bend from 1880 to 1940. At one point he stated, "The main focus of my historical research is the materials and methods used to teach reading in the pioneer one-room schools of West Texas. Those integrated schools were taught by young teachers who were adept at improvising instruction from the materials at hand. The scarcity of books meant that children had to write their own stories on Big Chief tablets." He said that he had found interesting examples of pre-historic (educationally speaking) Whole Language approaches, Language Experience approaches, and Literature-based Reading Instruction.

Al had recently completed a book-length manuscript, Ghost Schools of the Big Bend and was in the process of locating a publisher.

Al Tucker is survived by his wife Jan, two sons, five grandchildren, his mother and a sister. The family requests that memorials be made to the Albert Tucker Memorial Scholarship fund at Howard Payne University.