내 친구 '송재평' 교수를 생각하며 - 추모사 (2/15/2013)

 

고 송재평 집사 약력 Dr. Song’s Bio

(Dec. 21. 1960 – Feb. 12. 2013)

Dr. Chae-Pyong Song Dr. Song was born in 1960 in Yosu, South Korea. He came to the states in 1989. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University. Since he came to Marygrove College in 2001, he has taught a variety of courses such as Literary Theory, World Literature, Contemporary Literature of Africa, Post-colonial

Re-imaginations: Empire Writes Back, Human Rights and Literature, Globalization in Context, The Novel, Introduction to Literature, Travel Seminar, and Academic Writing. In addition to publications on postcolonial literature and theory, his recent translations of Korean literature have appeared on The Korea Times, New Writing from Korea, Metamorphoses: Journal of Literary Translation, and WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly. Recently, along with Anne Rashid, he won the 40^th Korean Literature Translation Awards for translating Kim Hye-soon’s poems.

 

송재평 집사는 1960년 한국 여수에서 태어나 1989년 미국으로 왔습니다. 텍사스 A&M 대학에서 영문학을 전공하여 석사와 박사 학위를 받았습니다. 2001년 Marygrove College 교수로 취임하여 문학이론, 세계문학, 현대 아프리카 문학 등을 가르쳤습니다. 탈식민지 문학과 이론에 관한 글을 썼고, 근래에는 The Korea Times 등의 여러 학술지에 한국 문학작품 번역을 소개했습니다. 최근 그는 Anne Rashid와 함께 김혜순 시인의 작품을 번역하여 제40회 한국 문학 번역상을 수상했습니다. 

 

유가족 Family

아내 Wife – 윤진아 Jina Yoon

딸 Daughter – 송미정 Iris Song

 

 

추모사 - 내 친구 '송재평' 교수를 생각하며 (2/15/2013)

 

Some call him, "Dr. Song", others call him, "Professor Song". But I'd like to call him a friend, a true friend. When we are kids, we can make friends right away. However, when we get older, it is not easy to make friends. Once we pass 40 years old, forget about it.

 

Amazingly, Deacon Song and I became friends, even though he studied at Texas A&M, and I studied at University of Texas. During football season, these two teams go at it just like Korea and Japan on the soccer game.

 

Now the bigger question is how we became friends. I am telling you, It is not because of me, but because of his warm heart.

 

Here is one of many examples. We had regular meetings during winter time, no different than outside now, at the Starbuck at Haggerty and 8 mile. Because I had a time conflict with another meeting, I was always late about 10~15 minutes. When I came in the coffee shop, He got up and move to another seat. I did not realize what he was doing for a while. Later I found out that he was just keeping the seat warm for me.

 

Sometimes our discussion got heated with other members, Then he told us some funny stories. I cannot translate this story literally because this is related to southern accent in Korea. So people who do not understand Korean, please bear with me for a second.

 

대학생 때 서울에서 출강 오시는 남자 교수님을 좋아했던 여자친구, 은님이는 아주 조신하게 행동하며 가능한 사투리를  쓰지 않으려고 노력했답니다. 어느 날 야외 수업을 했는데 옆에 앉은 친구가 그 여학생 공책에 음료수를 엎질렀습니다. 깜짝 놀란 여학생은 이렇게 외치고 말았습니다. "뭐여,어큰 거여(엎지른 거야)?" 맙소사! 순간 사방에서 웃음이 터졌고, 교수님은 부드러운 서울말로 말했습니다. "은님이가 사투리를 쓰는구나." "그렇지 않아요."라고 변명하려던 은님이는 당당히 말했습니다. "워메, 아닌디(어머, 아닌데)!"

Just like this, Deacon Song's best traits were his humor, thoughtfulness and love of life. He was never negative and looked for the positive in every situation.

 

He also was a dedicated and loving husband and father. He always spoke of his family and loved them more than anything in life.

 

Iris,

Please cherish the good memories of when your father was with you, but remember to forge new ones. Above all, know this, his memory will never die. He is with you now and will always be by your side.

 

<사랑하는 딸 Iris에게,

아빠와 함께한 좋은 추억들은 절대로 사라지지 않는단다. 그러니 앞으로 아름답고 예쁜 추억들을 많이 만들어라. 아빠는 지금도 너와 함께 있고 앞으로도 항상 내 곁에 있을 것이다!>

 

It is incredibly sad that his life ended so soon and I cannot put into words how much I will miss him. But He would not want us to be sad today. If Deacon Song were here, he would tell us to cheer up, smile and remember all of the great memories we all shared.

Even though we may not see him, his memory will live on in all of us forever.

 

Dear my friend, I appreciate your friendship and will never forget you.

 

 

From his website:

Korean Poetry in Translation

A collection of contemporary Korean poetry in translation