Dr. Art Saltzman, professor of English, died unexpectedly of an aneurysm Jan. 8 at his home. He was 54. Saltzman spent the last half of his life teaching at Missouri Southern, beginning in 1981.

“He was absolutely committed to Missouri Southern,” said Dr. William Kumbier, professor of English. “Anything we tried to do to enhance intellectual life on this campus, Art was there 100 percent.”

Saltzman left a deep impression on the students he taught. Ross Gipson, a 2004 Southern graduate, knew him as both professor and friend. He said Saltzman’s classes were “a pure pleasure” to be in.

“He not only knew a tremendous amount about the craft of writing and about literature, but he could also get you to see what he knew,” He said. “He could bridge that gap between teacher and student.”

Current students agree.

“I’m pretty sure everything he said was genius,” said Taylor Hicks, freshman French major. “How can someone think like that all the time?”

Students found him approachable.

“What set him apart from a lot of other professors is that he was pretty down-to-earth. He wasn’t arrogant. You could tell that he loved to teach, and he didn’t like to boast, despite all of his accomplishments,” said Gipson.

Saltzman’s colleagues remember him with respect. Dr. Dale Simpson, head of the department of English and philosophy, called him, “A giant of a figure, immensely talented as a writer and a passionate teacher,” adding that he will be remembered for his ironic wit.

Kumbier described Saltzman as a caring, self-sacrificing individual.

“Art could say things off the top of his head sometimes, and sound biting and caustic. But it was because he cared,” Kumbier said. “He didn’t pull any punches. Over the semester it’s going to sink in, how much he did for the world.

“Although a lot of people knew him for his cutting, biting wit, for being tough, this whole place is going to be a lot colder now that he’s not here.”

Saltzman published 10 books and numerous articles and essays. His latest book, Solve for X, was published in 2007, and yet another book, The Obligations of the Harp, is forthcoming from Parlor Press.

Kumbier says Saltzman created a form of writing for himself. Frustrated with the limitations of current literary criticism, Saltzman combined memoir and literary criticism in essay form.

“Anybody can read these essays and relate to them,” said Kumbier. “You don’t have to be a fan of Raymond Carver, or Don DeLillo, or Nicholson Baker.”

Saltzman received many awards for both his writing and teaching, including Southern’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 1992 and the Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. In 2006 he was a finalist for the Lewis-Clark Press Expedition Award for Solve for X. He was named in Notable Essays of 2005 for the essay “In Praise of Pointlessness” and won the 2005 Nonfiction Prize from Columbia: A Journal of Literature & Art for his essay “Reason Not the Need.”

Saltzman is survived by his daughter Elizabeth, his companion Dr. Joy Dworkin and her son Jeremy.

A memorial gathering will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Spiva Art Gallery on campus. There will be an opportunity to contribute to permanent memorials in Saltzman’s honor at this time.