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2. Baird Straughan - 2007-05-10 03:54:11 I was a sophomore at Duke when Frank Borchardt took me under his wing and really became my "Doktorvater." After some initial classes I had a series of independent studies with him, and we would meet once a week in his office to go through texts by Schiller and Goethe and Brecht. (What a teacher/student ratio! Does this still happen?) Our conversations never ended without deviating into the political issues of the day. Borchardt believed passionately - and I agreed - that the myths and ideas embodied in literature and other discourse are wondrously, dangerously alive. They shape our future, and therefore deserve careful examination and skepticism. In his view, some even warranted full-blown excoriation. Including many of mine. I would find myself angrily defending my opinions (based on the latest Newsweek) against the fiery convictions of a professor for whom these were not matters of democratic debate, they were tied to the twists and atrocities of recent European history, which his family had suffered in the flesh. I often left angry, but I returned again and again to that cauldron of learning, and it welded our friendship. This isn’t what I sat down to write about, but as I fiddle and revise my words I find that these literate/historical/political arguments were at the core of what he taught me -- the discipline to test ideas by their fruits in the real world, and perhaps more than that, to share without fear the things that I truly know. - Baird Straughan, Duke ’78 3. Henry Stern - 2007-05-10 09:00:55 I met Frank in 1966 at Northwestern when he was an Asst. Professor and I a graduate student. It turned out we had both gone to the same college and had friends in common. For the next 40 or so years we exchanged hundreds of letters and later e-mails, ran up huge phone bills, went on trips together. Some memories; Chicago jazz clubs with Frank and Herbert Heckmann; SAMLA in November;dinner with Lee Phelps at Pitty Pat’s Porch in Atlanta;the Old Europe on Wisconsin in DC, and of course Bullock’s in Durham. In Würzburg in the 70’s we drank Franconian wine (actually we did that in the 80’s and 90’s too)and ate at ’Zum Stachel’ He showed me Berlin, his Berlin, a few years ago, and I showed him Münster. We drove around Germany in an orange VW bug just after he got his first driver’s license--that was a thrill. He got to know my sons and they learned about him and were amazed. My oldest visited him at Hospice in Hillsborough a few days ago. How much he enriched my life I can’t begin to say, but I am grateful for the times shared. 4. Jennifer Claire McConnell - 2007-05-10 17:27:01 I was also a sophomore at Duke when I enrolled in Frank Borchardt’s German Drama course. I will never forget his amazing stories and tales of his life and all the interesting things he had seen an accomplished. Professor Borchardt turned me on to the Transatlantic Program... which has gotten me an internship for the summer which I am very excited about and deeply indebted to him for. His passion for German Drama was remarkable, and he truly understood that students can learn best when they are truly excited about the subject, rather than weighed down by meaningless assignments. He was an amazing professor and truly touched all of those around him. 5. Martha Blake-Adams - 2007-05-11 12:06:07 What can I say about Frank....a dear man, full of life and laughter and stories, who loved his family, his friends and his students dearly. We met at the Center for Living several years ago and haven’t stopped talking since. Prior to his knee surgery, he was encouraged to walk in water to prepare for his rehabilitation....so, we spent hours walking back and forth and talking. Another of the CFL members came in and said to us that we had at last found the perfect sport!! He is a joy! 6. Baird Straughan - 2007-05-12 18:35:01 ABOUT FRANK’S DEVOTION TO TEACHING, LEE PHELPS JUST TOLD ME THIS; My greatest worry was, “What will this poor man do once he retires?.” His life revolved around students. He needed that, because the students were young ... and they never got any older! That kept him going. Last summer he talked to the doctors, and they were very pessimistic. They said it could a matter of weeks or months. He said, “Well, I’d like to teach in the fall.” They said, “Well, we’ll let you know.” And finally some time in the middle of the summer, they said, “Go ahead and try it. You’ve got the will to do it.” So he made it through the fall. And then he consulted again, and again the doctors weren’t optimistic. He said, “I’ve got to. I’m teaching Faust for the last time.” They said, “Well, go ahead and try it.” And he made it. He really worked at it. Toward the end, he had a staph infection in his leg and it made walking very painful. He had an infection in his throat that made talking very difficult. So he had the students perform scenes from Faust, and then he commented on them. He tried to manage his voice so he could lecture once a week. He finished the semester, gave the final exam, and when the grades were in, that was literally the end. He couldn’t have gone another day. 7. Fred Holdrege - 2007-05-12 19:16:01 I never knew Frank except at The Center for Living. We had many enjoyable conversations while water walking. He was always pleasant and an interesting conversationalist. I can understand why the comments on this website have been made 8. Amy Horning Marschall - 2007-05-13 19:44:11 No doubt you know, Frank, the impact you had on my life, inspiring me to switch from a career in Chemistry to one in German Literature, just as I completed all of the degree requirements for graduation from Duke. What I don’t think I ever told you was how terrified I was to admit to you that I was thinking about doing this. I realized later that the very idea of trying to emulate you in any way felt like hubris to me. You were such an inspiring professor. I shall always be grateful for your enthusiastic embrace of and support for my plans. This week I’ve been talking to my 10th-grade students of world literature about Faust. Of course, you’ve been on my mind, and now comes the news that you are so ill. My thoughts are and always will be with you.
9. bert wolf - 2007-05-22 22:01:14
I came to Duke as a German grad student in 1984. Dr. Borchardt hired me as a grad asst. to work with computers, particularly optical character recognition. I later returned to work for him on the DUCALL Calis project. I accompanied him on many trips to Baltimore and other cities and finally on a trip to Germany. We shopped for pottery at jugtown and decorated Christmas trees together. He had an enormous influence on my life, leading me into a career in computers and teaching. He was a guest in my house many times where we talked, always later than we planned. I use his one liners to good effect over and over again, to wit "Spank your children every day, if you don’t know why they will." "The Duke English department is a Stalinist safe house." Mehr Arbeit macht freier." I could go on. My one liner about him was that he used the Trojan horse of renaissance/reformation studies to sneak into academia where, under the cover of tenure, he unleashed the power of personal computing on the humanities. As a hard-core liberal I shared no political heroes with him, but always admired his wit and insight. My children thought he was Santa Claus. I am devastated to find out that I missed my chance to say goodbye. He was overdue for another dinner invitation from me. I have lost a dear friend and mentor. To all of his friends and family, I say God bless you in your grief and may he rest in peace.
10. CT Woods-Powell - 2007-05-23 11:25:32 I met Frank at a party in the home of the late Kenny J. Williams. Frank was so much fun, full of laughter, committed to learning and always willing to ask the difficult questions. What a loss for us all. CT 11. Winston Atkins - 2007-05-23 15:13:26 For me, talking with Frank was like talking with a whirlwind. He pulled ideas from anywhere, joining them, drawing connections. And, like a whirlwind, I felt like I was along for the ride--occasionally trying to let my foot touch ground, but mostly just enjoying this wonderful new view of the world. I did not know Frank well or talk with him often, but I always came away feeling like I’d been appreciated for my own self, my own thoughts, and conversely, that I would enjoy digging deeper. His example made me want to do more. I guess I cannot think of a more apt way to close than that--even when he wasn’t teaching, he taught. 12. kathy harding kling - 2007-06-22 14:53:14 Frank will always be a star in the firmament for me. I am one of the many Duke Institute for Retirement (DILR) students who would make certain to get to Bishop House for whatever course he was teaching. His joy, enthusiasm, humor and curiosity in & for life will always be inspiring. We are better folks for knowing him. 13. Jeremy Welch - 2007-09-22 16:21:01 I made a post on my blog after I attended the memorial service held at the Doris Duke Center. I think Herr Borchardt would appreciate our use of technology to pay tribute to him. jeremyrwelch.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/frank-l-borchardt-1938-2007/ 14. Carlos Astroza - 2007-09-22 19:31:11 Frank, infinite thanks by show me your world of Friends, Opera, Theater, Foods. I m was preparing my version you. I think that you would last, in body for always, that gullible I am. Dr. Borchardt; in the present I remain in debt. Thanks great mentor. Cheers! 15. Susan Handley Walker ’76 - 2007-10-05 12:12:39 Studying Shakespeare in high school I learned that what made Romeo and Juliet a tragedy was the accidents; the postman crossing Romeo’s path as he returned to Juliet’s tomb, the poison wearing off only minutes after Romeo’s demise, and Romeo holding Mercutio while he is accidentally stabbed. Today, when I received the Duke Umlaut I felt a tragedy had occurred. Over the past year Dr. Borchardt had been on my mind and I had thought I would write to him regaling him with stories of the past hoping to share with him the positive impact he had had on my life. If only I had written him sooner. Sadly, I find myself compelled to share with a community who similarly loved him and not the man himself. Whenever I returned to visit Duke I always stopped at the Duke Gardens and the Foreign Languages building on the quad of West Campus intending to visit Dr. Borchardt (unlike Doug Ziurys’ account, he never became Frank for me). Of all my undergraduate professors, he singularly stood out. I came to Duke intending to study a scientific discipline, lost my way in those impersonal large science classrooms only to be discovered by Dr. Borchardt and the friendly German department. Junior year abroad at the Uni in Munchen paved the way to a German major which happily led to a post-graduate fellowship year in Berlin. While in Berlin at the Freie Uni the Germanistik studenten went on strike. At a loss I wrote Dr. Borchardt back home about my dilemma (the German library was even barricaded). You could hear him laughing in his responding letter; “Well, I’m glad to hear that Berlin has not changed. Just enjoy yourself while there. Take advantage of as many cultural opportunities as you can.” With his blessing I discovered student discounts to hear the Berlin Philharmonik; the Amerika Haus where I read book after book of African American literature; a chess club; and a class in Spanish (yep, learning spanisch auf deutsch); and romance to boot. I remember a class with Dr. Borchardt in German Romanticism. He was explaining themes in a particular novella (I don’t remember which one-- perhaps Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe), and launched into a discussion of NATURE. With that Santa Claus twinkle in his eye (after all, I’m sure that Santa Claus wears clogs and smokes a pipe with cherry tobacco), he chuckled and said “I like nature just fine—so long as it is on the other side of a screen.” I could not begin to share his point of view at all—at this time of my life I was discovering and delighting in nature by immersing myself in it; whether it was a midnight outing to the Duke Forest with a group of friends from Wilson House to lay on the ground and look up at the stars or an ill-advised canoe trip down the Haw River in flood conditions in March. So, to picture Dr. Borchardt on a screened-porch safely ensconced from bugs or weather was a laugh in and of itself. I smugly thought to myself “Why, he doesn’t know nature at all!” As it turned out, he knew more of nature than many of us, myself included, for he understood that provocative statements produced the juices of new and illuminating thought. Last but not least, I too had to memorize German poetry, which has stayed with me for lo these thirty years. However, one poem is tied to Dr. Borchardt and the other is tied to a semester class I took on Faust with Dr. Borchardt’s beloved mentor and teacher. Dr. Borchardt would like the one I memorized for the Faust class; Habe nun Ach/ Philosophie, Juristerei, Medizin und leider auch Theologie durchaus studiert mit heissem Bemuhn/ Da steh’ ich nun ich, armer Tor, und bin so klug als wie zufor!! The poem I memorized for Dr. Borchardt; Uber allen Wipfeln ist ruh/ Uber allen Gipfeln spurest Du kaum einen Hauch/ die Voegelein schweigen im Walde/ Warte nur/ Balde ruhest Du auch Even though I missed my opportunity writing to Dr. Borchardt, I guess I’m talking to him now when I say “Just wait, soon I will rest too. Thank you, Dr. Borchardt.” Susan Handley Walker, Duke B.A. 1976, M.H.A. 1979 16. Ana M. Andrada (Argentina) - 2007-11-20 13:58:50 Dear Frank; From Buenos Aires, Argentina, where you were so pleased you to come and enjoy our landscapes, food, wine and conversation about life and academic issues. When I visited you to work in the US, I just want to say thank you, thank you a lot for sharing your home, friends, office, food and German wines. Since I met you for the first time 16 years ago, we worked together in such a variety of issues and topics. Your strict and generous way were really a good combination for taking from each of us the best we were able to be. As you used to say; Cheers! 17. Xuan An ,from Shanghai,PRChina - 2007-11-26 21:28:38 Dear Frank, Every time I email you for help with language and culture, you were quick to offer feedback and your reflections.Your cheers and affectious laughters,stories,wisdom really touched me a lot when I worked in your office. You would be happy to know my progress of new horizon with information tech.I miss you so much. 18. Ramon Piqué - Catalonia - 2007-12-24 12:59:55 En record d’en Frank Borchardt, un mestre d’excel·lència, un amic que va deixar un emprempta important pel seu amor i la seva fe en l’ensenyament com a eine de superació personal i col·lectiva. Com a deixeble seu de doctorat sempre li estaré agraït pel seu suport i la seva comprensió cap a la realitat catalana. 19. valentina - 2007-12-25 15:23:36 hou,hou,hou es lo que sempre deies i a mi em feia molta gracia.Llastima que ja no i ets
20. af - 2008-03-10 03:58:48 21. Tom Peterson - 2008-03-10 10:36:42 Frank, You were one of the most intellectual and exciting persons I had ever met --and one of the nicest. I’ll always remember your mentoring and encouraging words when I was a fellow student at Johns Hopkins. I hope you still sometimes thought of your old Albanian-American friend from "the bleak northern wilds of Maine". May your memory be eternal, Tom
22. Carlos Astroza Hidalgo Cordially,
Carlos Astroza Hidalgo
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