"Prof. Barbour was a hard teacher. He was definitely no joke about his class.
He was also the only professor who saw that I was having a hard time in college
and asked about it--all while still demanding excellence from me. I still remember and own several of the plays
he had us read: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson,
Funnyhouse of the Negro by Adrienne Kennedy,
Les Blancs and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry,
The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe and
9 Plays By Black Women edited by Margaret B. Wilkerson. So much of what
I learned in his class has informed my life and my writing. I'm a more
articulate and politically aware person for having taken Prof. Barbour's
class. For that I am eternally grateful."
—Jennifer Marie Brissett, Writer, Student of Prof. Barbour
"Floyd was my professor, and my friend, at Simmons College. We corresponded regularly for years after my graduation in 1989. Our last correspondence had been one of love and light, as they always were. He was my mentor and my confidante and the first adult in my young life who really saw me for who I was. He was the first person to ever tell me that I had talent, and that I mattered. Floyd was also the first person to ever ask me to think about race in a way I never had. It was thanks to him that my awareness was raised and I often think about him and the lessons he taught me that were so much bigger than the classroom. The impact Floyd had on me I feel to this day and I am so very sad to know that he is gone."
—Valerie Brooks, Student of Prof. Barbour
"I first met Floyd when I was 14 yrs. old, and he was a sophomore at Bowdoin College and I was
living in the same town. We became acquainted when he recruited a friend and I to act in a one-act
play he wrote and produced as part of a student drama festival at Bowdoin. Floyd and I remained
friends throughout his life, although I saw him only occasionally in recent years. We lived close
to one another in the late 1960s and 1970s and saw each other often. We watched the first man walk
on the moon together with Ian Sterling, went to concerts and plays, and spent many evenings in deep
discussion. I always loved talking with Floyd; he listened well and expressed his thoughts more articulately
than almost anyone I knew. He spoke often of his work at Porter Sargeant, his students at BU and Simmons,
his mentor, Adelaide Hill, and the pleasure he took in spending time at the Atheneum library on Beacon Hill.
I also loved his Christmas cards--always the lion and the lamb--and marveled about how he could find a
different version year after year."
—Ann Coles, Friend of Prof. Barbour
"I was not a student of Floyd's, but knew him as a friend when we lived on Beacon Hill in the 60's.
I knew him as a sweet, thoughtful, curious human being. We did not keep in touch as the years went
by, but the memory of him remains."
—Amanda Donovan, Friend of Prof. Barbour
"He was the absolute best professor who taught beyond his subject matter...I love him and miss him
and will forever be grateful to him."
—Tina Guarino, Student of Prof. Barbour
"Professor Barbour was a very amazing man. He had a very quiet and gentle way of letting his student
imagine all of the possibilities and helping them to realize all of their potential and dreams. He had
a way of making his students feel like friends. I felt like his friend and like I mattered as a person.
I was thinking of him today on MLK day and I can not believe he is gone. He is truly one of the only
professors who inspired me."
—Miah Kattman, Student of Prof. Barbour
"I just remember him being a wonderful teacher and letting me illustrate the Third Life of Grange
Copeland and Joe Turner's Come and Gone instead of writing a paper on the books. He gave out books
to those of us with perfect attendance. I also remember NOT reading Beloved and being called on to
discuss it and Morgan Peters giving me the wrong answers to say."
—Shea Justice, Art Educator, Student of Prof. Barbour
"I learned a lot from Floyd and always think of him when in appreciating culture, people, differences,
etc. He made literature fun for me and opened up a new world that I wouldn't have known how to appreciate
and respect. Thank you Professor Barbour."
—Karen Lau, Student of Prof. Barbour
"We both worked at Porter Sargeant Publisher in Extending Horizon Books. I forget what his job was
when I arrived some time early in 1968. But we had four editors in Extending Horizons Books and had
great dreams for it and would talk on and on. Porter Sargaent the Patriarch with his long white beard
and pipe would be back in his paper-and-book stuffed office smoking his pipe. We would spend time
speculating on what he actually did; we had no idea. So one of the editors one day up and left, quit—
taking with him every single manuscript of Extending Horizons Books. So we had no books now. That's how
Floyd got to do the Black Power Revolt and I got to do The New Left: A Collection of Essays. We laughed
a lot there and had a great time."
—Priscilla Long, Colleague of Prof. Barbour
"Yes. Simmons College. Boston. Creative Writing. The Simmons Drama Club: Women’s Theatre Alive presented PRISMS How The Personal Becomes Political written by members of the Simmons Community.
The final act was a facilitated discussion between members of the audience and cast regarding poignant topics addressed in Prisms by Professor Floyd Barbour.
I personally am grateful that when Grandmother and Mother came to visit me in Cambridge, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving Holiday—with Home-Made Lasagna—that Floyd Barbour was our invited guest—and that he joined us—such an honor! Thank you!
Over the years I have saved his provocative and soul touching written responses to my earlier writings. His generosity and vision for being able to sense/intuit others and gently inspire and or be a conduit a catalyst for emergence seems to me to be one of his super powers."
—Andrea Maletta
Class of 1990
Simmons College
Boston, Massachusetts
Women's’ Studies Major
"Words cannot express the impact that Professor Barbour made on my life. I have been looking
for him for years and am also deeply saddened by the news of his death."
—Kristyana Pham, Student of Prof. Barbour
"I just this moment found out my favorite college professor passed and I am saddened. I took every
class I could possibly take with him and learned so much from him. He was my advisor too. He
definitely made me feel that I had potential and inspired me. He saw the best in me and so I knew
there might be something good in me to find. He invited me to read a short story I had written to
his class. I agreed to do this and decided not to wear my usual running suit to show my respect for
him and my appreciation. I wore nice pants, a nice sweater over a collared shirt with a bow tie.
I just finished my Masters in Teaching for elementary ed. I hope I can touch people's lives the way
he touched mine. I love you and miss you. I hoped I would see you again but I guess I waited too long."
—Jane Leader Ripps, Student of Prof. Barbour
"I am an old and dear friend of Floyd's from his Bowdoin days, NYC, Boston. He was in my wedding party.
I loved Floyd and saddened to hear of his passing."
—Ian Jerome Sterling, Friend of Prof. Barbour
"I was one of his students at M.I.T. in the early Seventies and subsequently became a friend.
He was one of my favorite professors, a gentleman and a scholar. I'm deeply saddened to hear of his death."
—Charles Taylor, Student of Prof. Barbour