Bye, Don

Dr. Lee Harrod
English Department
The College of New Jersey
Editor, TCNJ Review

I saw several performances of Don Evans’ plays.  “A Lovesong for Miss Lydia” left me musing about the necessity and complexity of human relationships, and “ It’s Showdown Time” left me laughing while contemplating the mixed-up issue of race in this country.  I admired Don as an artist.  His plays are well-made, with the solidity you find in Shaw or Osborne, and he had a knack for capturing the way people really talk.  He was a founding editorial board member of the TCNJ Review.

But what I remember best about Don was the way he took young playwrights in as novices and gave them time and care and nurture.  When I was chair of the English Department (sometime before the Flood), I used to drop in on Don when his playwriting class was rehearsing student-written plays.  The kind of professional but personal advice Don gave to the students seemed marvelous to me—intense and technical, but human and understanding.

I don’t know what happened to all of Don’s protégés.  When last I saw one of them, he was heading for the prestigious film school at the University of Southern California.  Another is a rising playwright, with several big-city productions to her credit.  A third is a high-school drama teacher, whom I see occasionally and who always sings Don’s praises.  I noticed that a student-written play in this year’s  program of one-acts credits Don for inspiration.

Don was the kind of friend with whom you want to drink a quiet cup of coffee.  He was not loud or flashy.  He was a good artist and a good man who enriched the college with his modest wisdom and enriched the world through his delicious talent.

We used to tell incoming freshmen at Convocation that they should spend their time here in such a way that the College was a better place for their having been here.

They had a role model in Don.  I know that he made the College a better place for me and for many other people—both colleagues and students.

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Editorial for Spring 2004 issue, TCNJ Review. Used with the permission of the author.