- Date Of Birth: April 18, 1940
- Date Of Death: February 24, 2022
- State: Illinois
Professor Emeritus of English and Journalism, 46-year esteemed faculty member of MacMurray College, beloved teacher to tens of thousands of students, author of eight books on the English language – including an entire book on the word “OK” – lover of all words great and small, written and spoken, from prose to songs to sonnets, loving Father of four and Grandfather to seven more, Dr. Allan Albert Metcalf lived a life that was far better than just “OK.”
The first chapter of Allan’s story began on April 18th, 1940, in Clayton, Missouri. A smiling, happy, bright little boy, he was the first child of George Joseph Metcalf from Jacksonville, Illinois, and Mary Ellen Stephens of Springfield, Illinois. As a toddler, he moved with his family to the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where his father, also a Professor, accepted a faculty position at the University of Chicago. As a boy, Allan embraced all things in his new big-city environment, including the Chicago Cubs, his favorite baseball team. Younger brother Robert Harker Metcalf joined the family in 1943. Although, to Allan’s surprise, “Bobby” was somehow born a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Nevertheless, their lifelong love of baseball, as well as their brotherly love, has never waned.
Young Allan quickly became a student of life. He spent his days with his nose buried in books at the University of Chicago Lab School, and weekends roaming the halls of The Museum of Science and Industry, which he often said: “contained a wealth of free knowledge” just a few blocks from his home. Allan inherited his Mother’s love of music, and for fun, formed a barbershop quartet boy band. While never achieving fame for his singing, he did become an Eagle Scout winning “The Order of the Arrow,” the highest honor a Boy Scout can achieve. In 1957, it was no surprise that Allan was the Valedictorian of his High School.
Higher learning called and Allan headed East to the Ivy Leagues, deciding to pursue a major in mathematics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. But he quickly discovered he had a greater passion: he loved words more than numbers, and the rest is history. Allan became the Editor in Chief of the Cornell Daily Sun, and as a young reporter, soon found himself face-to-face with some rather famous interview subjects, including President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
After graduating from Cornell in 1961, Allan received a year’s fellowship to study at the Free University of Berlin. He arrived just as the East Germans started building the Berlin Wall. Not wanting anything to get in the way of his scholarship, Allan returned to the U.S., switching coasts to the University of California, Berkeley – just in time for the Free Speech Movement. What more could a lover of language ask for while working on his Ph.D.? The love of his life. While there, he met and charmed a beautiful California girl with his recitations of Shakespearean sonnets. It worked, and Teri Flynn soon became his wife and the mother of his four children: Stephen Joseph Metcalf, David Harker Metcalf, Michael Bailard Metcalf, and Sara Susanne Metcalf.
After settling in Southern California, Allan began his faculty career at the University of California, Riverside. But the Fates conspired and a unique opportunity arose. He was invited to become Chair of the English Department at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, the same institution his Great Grandfather, Joseph R. Harker, had served as long-time President and his Grandfather, Albert C. Metcalf, had served as Registrar.
Allan returned to his home state as a tenured Professor of English and Journalism. And in between teaching rhetoric, he added more titles to his resume, including world-renowned Linguist and Dialectologist. Allan’s passion for words, their origins, and how people talk led him to be appointed Executive Secretary of the American Dialect Society, a post he held for 41 years, where he originated the ADS’s now popular “Word of the Year” vote.
As his legend on the word circuit grew, there was only one thing left to do… write about what he loved. Allan became a celebrated author of English language books. In addition to “OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word”, his greatest hits included, “From Skedaddle to Selfie: Words of the Generations,” “Presidential Voices” (chronicling the speaking styles of U.S. Presidents), and his final book, “The Life of Guy,” about Guy Fawkes, the man who is the reason we call each other “guys.”
Allan was a “Standout Guy” in his own right, having had such a positive influence on so many people’s lives. While struggling with Parkinson’s in his final years, he never stopped smiling and singing and quipping a pun or wordplay to the delight of others. On February 24th, 2022, with loved ones at his side, Allan died peacefully at the age of 81. The final words of his life’s story are best summed up in the last poem he composed: “This is it. Leaves fall, one by one.”
