It might just be my memory adding details to make the story better, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to read the first Eugene England essay that I did. At least, it wasn’t assigned reading. I found it in a fine anthology called “Readings for Intensive Writers” that I had to buy for my […]

As a fairly absent-minded personality, I nevertheless keep a careful account of my debts. And now I find myself owing something I hoped I’d be able to repay someday. How I expected to repay Eugene England for his influence on my education, literary direction, or happiness, is a little vague. The few letters of thanks […]

Some individuals embody entire scriptural concepts. Eugene England, for example, wonderfully illuminates that famous passage of scripture, “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by . . . kindness, and pure knowledge.” Gene’s boundless, Christ-like charity, generosity of spirit, and kindness demonstrated in his life and […]

I admire the great good Gene has done in our world. I can’t drive up Provo Canyon without appreciating his good effects on our environment, can’t go downtown without thinking the new library ought to bear his name, can’t read an academic article, especially one which bears on my faith, without thinking Gene’s essays had […]

In the Fall of 1982, anticipating the birth of our first child, my wife and I moved from a one-bed­room to a two-bedroom student apart­ment in Provo. What a great decision! Our new student ward, according to those living there, had one of the most wonderful bishops they had ever known—Eugene England. As I came […]

Gene’s time in the U.S. Air Force is not well-known by most or his academic and Church associ­ates. I was fortunate to know Gene in AFROTC and Institute or Religion classes at the University of Utah and then at George Air Force Base in Victorville, California, where Gene served as a meteorologist and I was […]

At East High School in Salt Lake City, we were four friends: Gene, Floyd, Chris, and Max. We competed for grades and achievement in geometry, English, and chemistry. Geometry class was tense. We feared being called to solve a theorem in front of the class, yet we each secretly wished for the chance to excel […]

There is a fun motif in the film As Good As It Gets. The dysfunctional protagonist. Melvin Udall, a writer played by Jack Nicholson, is smitten by Carol Connelly, a waitress played by Helen Hunt. Each time they begin to draw closer to each other, Melvin accidentally offends Carol with an unwitting comment. In order […]

It seems like virtually everything worthwhile in the Mormon intellectual and literary communities has Eugene England’s fingerprints all over it. By far the most important and influential class of my English master’s degree at BYU was Gene’s Mormon literature class, which opened new horizons for me. Nearly a decade later I continue to be deeply […]

Gene, I know of very few people on this planet who are held in such high esteem by those who know them. Your combination of intellect and goodness is not just rare, it comes close to being unique, at least in my experience. You’ve done a lot of good in this world already, but beyond […]