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Germaine Brée
In a season of loss and grief, the Northeast Conference was saddened to learn of the death of Professor Germaine Brée, who chaired one of the very first annual meetings of our organization in 1955 and edited that year's volume, Culture, Literature, and Articulation. In it, she wrote,
"The aim of the 1955 Northeast Conference � is to bring together foreign language teachers and give them the opportunity to exchange ideas freely, discuss methods and problems connected with the teaching of languages on all levels. Further, we hope to influence in a direct and practical way the development of language teaching in the Northeast."
Her understanding of the need for seamless articulation in language study was coupled with recognition that such articulation could be facilitated only through the participation of language teachers at all levels in a conversation characterized by mutual respect and collegiality. Who plays her role in our association today? Who has assumed her mantle? We earnestly implore colleagues whose careers in literary and cultural studies parallel Dr. Brée's to focus--as she did--on the larger concerns of the profession. It would be a fitting memorial to her.
We are grateful to Nell Gifford Martin for the following obituary, which will serve to inform friends of the Northeast Conference of the profound impact of Germaine Brée.
Germaine Brée, distinguished academic and an authority on 20th century French literature, died at home after a long illness on September 22, 2001. She was 93.
Born in France, October 2, 1907, Dr. Brée earned her graduate degree at the University of Paris in 1930 and taught in Algeria from 1932 to 1936, when she took up further studies at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She soon joined the faculty at Bryn Mawr, where she taught from 1936-1953, and attracted the first of many accomplished students. While at Bryn Mawr, she taught also at Middlebury College. From 1953 to 1960, she taught in and chaired the Romance Language Department of New York University, whence she moved to Madison, Wisconsin, as Vilas Professor at the University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research in the Humanities. Following her retirement in 1973, Dr. Brée moved to Winston-Salem, NC, to serve as Kenan Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest University.
A distinguished teacher and author, she is credited with introducing a generation of teachers and scholars to what were new French voices of the modern era. Her greatest legacy, she would say, was the gift of devoted teachers to the profession to which she devoted her life.
Germaine Brée was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Council of the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Modern Language Association, of which she was president in 1975. She was a chevalier of the Legion of Honor (France), and a commandeur dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Her ground-breaking books on Marcel Proust, André Gide, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre remain standards in her field; she also championed younger writers such as Monique Wittig and the francophone Jean-Marie Le Clézio.
During World War II, love of her homeland took her to France, where she served with the French Army from 1943-1945 and was decorated with the Bronze Star. In 1970 she published an Anthology of French Wartime Writing, and her wartime experience colored the remainder of her life. In 1952 she was naturalized as an American citizen, an acceptance and commitment of which she was proud.
Dr. Brée will be remembered and celebrated by a large and devoted extended family on two continents, by her students, and by countless friends.
Nell Gifford Martin
Roger Coulombe
The Northeast Conference expresses its deep condolences to McDougall Littell and to friends and family of Roger Coulombe. We are proud to help them celebrate Mr. Coulombe's life and accomplishments.
Roger Coulombe, Vice President, Editorial Director of World Languages at Mcdougall Littell, died suddenly at home on August 8, 2001. He was 60 years old.
He leaves a cousin, Bernadette Mendes, an aunt and uncle, Roland and Irene Laflamme, dear friends George Tobin and Malcolm Hamilton, and many other friends and colleagues.
Roger was born in Acushnet and raised in Southeastern Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Stonehill College in Easton, MA and received his master's degree in linguistics from Yale University in the 1960s.
Following his graduation from Yale, Roger taught high school French in Putney, VT, before becoming a foreign language editor for Rand McNally Co. in Chicago.
For nearly 20 years he worked for D. C. Heath Publishing in Lexington, MA. Later he worked for McDougal Littell, a Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston, as Vice President and Editorial Director for World Languages. For almost three decades, Roger was a creative presence in the foreign language community. The educational programs he guided to publication were leaders in their field. French for Mastery, Spanish for Mastery, Discovering French, �Dime! and �En español! are some of the well-known and widely-used series that Roger published. He pioneered video, multimedia, and computer-based foreign language support programs that are in use in schools around the world.
Roger was a lifelong enthusiast of languages, travel, good food, opera, classical music, and the arts. He will be sorely missed by all of us.
C. Edward Scebold 
Mr. C. Edward Scebold was Executive Director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) from1977 until his untimely death in 2001. From 1970 to 1977 he held the positions of Executive Secretary and Editor at ACTFL. Prior to that time, he served as Consultant in Foreign Languages to the Nebraska State Department of Education and teacher of Spanish in the Shawnee Mission Public Schools in Kansas.
As ACTFL's Executive Director, Mr. Scebold oversaw all aspects of the management and administration of the association, which has a current membership of approximately 8,500; in 2000, attendance at the annual convention surpassed 6,000 for the first time; and ACTFL's annual budget is approximately $3.5 million. He administered grants and contracts with federal agencies and private foundations, directed publication of Foreign Language Annals, ACTFL's official journal, and supervised a staff of sixteen professional and administrative employees.
Mr. Scebold served the foreign language profession in a variety of capacities. During his tenure at ACTFL, he maintained an active public speaking calendar, was interviewed for radio, television, and various publications, served as liaison and consultant for associations, school districts, colleges and universities, and government agencies. Mr. Scebold served on the Board of Directors of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL)-National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS) and as ACTFL's representative to the Interagency Language Roundtable of government agencies who are concerned with language education and related issues.
Mr. Scebold was actively involved in the launching of ACTFL's second language proficiency assessment projects and with the National Standards in Foreign Language Education initiative. He was a Steering Committee member of the New Visions in Foreign Language Education Project.
A Tribute
When we think of leadership in foreign language education, we think of ACTFL. And when we think of ACTFL, we think of Ed. Yet as the above illustrates, it was always ACTFL that received the recognition. Where would we have been without Ed?!
Ed's leadership served as a model to associations, their leaders, and their members. He actively sought to collaborate with the myriad organizations that dot our professional landscape, as evidenced by ACTFL's links with the associations of states in which it holds its conferences, by the development and evolution of its Delegate Assembly, by its work with the Standards Collaborative and NCATE, by its participation in the New Visions initiative, by its support of the regionals, by its major contributions to JNCL-NCLIS, by its work with government agencies, and on and on. These many examples of collaboration arose from the dedication and vision of Ed Scebold, yet he consistently escaped the limelight and worked relentlessly without seeking recognition. The sacrifices Ed made on our behalf were countless (and in some cases, quite stunning--his refusal to accept the offer of a paid sabbatical, for example). Where would we have been without Ed!?
ACTFL has had only two people at its helm--as a long-time ACTFL and NECTFL leader observed, "Andy Paquette got it off the ground, and Ed put it where it is today." It is extremely rare for any professional association to enjoy the same leadership--and benefit from it--for such a length of time. Ed's longevity was an unequivocal tribute to him: to his willingness to continue in what was at times a thankless job, and to his ability to see the larger picture by focusing on what would benefit foreign languages and enable them to prosper in a nation that often fails to recognize their worth. While the profession itself has at times experienced tremendous internal conflict, Ed took ACTFL above the fray. Reaching our current status required vision, consensus-building, and an ability to familiarize others with realities--financial, organizational, political--they had not encountered before. As an old friend commented, "A weaker person would have left a long time ago!" Where would we have been without Ed!?
The position we hold today is a far cry from when he first took the reins at ACTFL. Do you remember the days of the "Britannica Review of Foreign Language Education"? Do you remember life before proficiency? Do you remember when NECTFL was a larger conference than ACTFL?! Do you remember the days before Foreign Language Annals? What is on our "screen" today that Ed did not help to "key"? Where would we have been without Ed!?
All these talents and all this hard work were only one part of the equation, however. The other was the fact that Ed cared. Many of us remember watching him choke up as he delivered a tribute to outgoing Senator and champion of foreign languages, Paul Simon. Ed's affection for others meant that he recognized strengths you did not know you had, and that he excused your foibles and missteps. It meant that you could ask him about any topic, and he would provide the name of someone who could address it--when, in many cases, he himself would have been the most knowledgeable and effective source of information. It meant that he would find time in a punishing schedule to sit and talk with you alone, to make special arrangements for you, to listen, to share a legendary midwestern sense of humor, to help you pursue your own ideas. Where would we have been without Ed!?
If you have not been asking yourself that question during the last 30 years, you may now be wondering, with the news of his passing, where will we be without Ed!? But rest assured, he left us in the best of shape: thinking ahead but conscious always of the foundation that is our past. Not only was Ed himself an outstanding leader, but he helped to develop the leaders of our future.
We shall miss him.
Becky Kline
NECTFL Board of Directors
Friends and colleagues in the profession
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