Tribute to Jane H. Hill

Jane was an inspiration to so many of us; a truly creative linguistic anthropologist; a scholar of deep understanding, wide knowledge and rare ethics. What a loss for our field and especially for those of us who have been lucky enough to be her admiring friends.

While I did not meet Dr. Jane Hill in person, I have been an enthusiast of her work since the moment that I was introduced to language, race, and white public space. Hill's work critiqued a racist status quo in the U.S. and called upon scholars to continue the trajectory of challenging white supremacy. She will be dearly missed, and proudly remembered

Dear Jane, Aquí en Chiapas para las celebraciones de los muertos, pero no sabía que ibas a estar también, aunque desde el otro lado. Te abrazo, y ¡tomamos una copa para ti!

I had the good fortune of taking a course on Language and Racism with Jane while she was writing her book, The Everyday Language of White Racism. Every few weeks she would send us the draft of a new chapter—graciously allowing us to see (and participate in) the messy, exciting process of writing that was happening behind the curtain. All of the classes I took with Jane influenced my understanding of how language intersects with power, but this experience in particular gave me a new way to think about writing and communicating with readers. What a privilege it was to work with Jane; her quick wit, generosity, and mentorship are treasures that have shaped who I am as a scholar and an educator. Her legacy will live on in us and our students.

Long after leaving grad school, Dr. Hill's books remain on my bookshelves. I am grateful that my professors gave us her work to study in the LRC program in the College of Edu at the U of Arizona. May she rest in peace.

I've been carrying an emptiness since learning of her passing on Friday. Jane's energy, brilliance, humor and unwavering support have sustained me since the first class I took with her in 2005. I'm indebted. We all are.

My deepest sympathies

Professor Hill has long been the kind of scholar I wish to become. Her bold and progressive voice was only outshined by her personal kindness and breadth of spirit. She will always be remembered for being far ahead of her time in terms of both her brilliant ideas, but in her kind treatment of her students and junior faculty. I am truly sad to learn of her passing and hope to continue her legacy in the future.

As a college student majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology, I asked my advisor where I should apply to grad school and immediately she said...go to U of A and work with Jane Hill!!! Lucky for me I was able to do just that, and from the very first email she sent me to welcome me to the joint program in Ling & Anth, she was the most helpful, hilarious, kind and brilliant teacher and mentor I could imagine. Her classes were not to be missed, both for their inspiration and her hilarious stories that gave life to difficult concepts and the foundational scholars who first worked on them. Her absence is a sad loss for the world, though her inspiration will live on through the many many students and colleagues she influenced over the years. Thanks Jane, for everything!

I served as a faculty member with Jane for five stimulating years and she taught and enhanced us all with the depth and breadth of here knowledge of thing lingutistic but her range was phenomenal historically and pre-European archeaeology at the same level of excellence. She laughed easily at the ridiculous and shallow and she was a formidable and immensely kind person who had gone through very difficult times. Te voy a estranar me estimada Jane y que las diosas te protegan. Carlos

Jane was truly one of a kind - she used to joke about being "the last of the dinosaurs" (or sometimes "the last of the structuralists"), but she was way off ... It was hard to believe that one person could know so much, think so deeply about so many different things, and remain so grounded in the midst of it. (Jane was also a bon vivante who appreciated the finer things in life, like pecan bars from the Raging Sage cafe in Tucson). I'll always be grateful that I made it to U of A just in time to take the last few classes she taught before retiring. What a stroke of luck. Like many others who have commented here, my library is mostly stocked with books from Jane's end-of-career office cleaning, including a copy of her own 'Grammar of Cupeno', inscribed: "To Brendan: There will be a test!!! Jane". She was the best.

What a sad loss. Jane was a brilliant and groundbreaking scholar. But more than that, she was a deeply decent human being. Jane was kind and supportive to me when I was just starting out as a grad student; I've never forgotten her generosity. I feel lucky to have known her.

Linguistics MA student at the University of Virginia. Professor Hill's work opened my eyes to the power and significance of our words.

When I first took her socioling/Ling anth class in my first graduate year, I was instantly fascinated by the depth and breadth of the field, as well as her commitment in it. Since then she has always been a great source of inspiration for my work, and will continue to be that way for good. Now I remember with pleasure her cynical jokes she sometimes cracked at he beginning of class, and really wish I could talk with her once again before this day came. RIP, Jane.

It's really bittersweet to read how Jane touched the lives of so many people I know and respect--and so many others as well. She was ridiculously smart, ethically straight up, and so damn funny. I consider it a blessing to have had Jane as my colleague, mentor and friend, and to join you all in celebrating the ways she enriched our lives and our world.

Read her book on everyday tacit racism as part of a Ling anth class on language and power. Sad for her demise. Ling anth lost an important scholar. Profound loss.

Jane's work was so influential for my thinking in so many areas. The first time I met her I was in awe that someone so brilliant could also be so fun, warm, generous, and supportive; I think she showed so many of us that a humane, ethical, and and deeply meaningful model of both scholarship and academic life was possible. Such a profound loss.

Jane, dear Jane! How can I tell you how very much your life and work has meant to me, how much your "speaking mexicano" book recast my whole relation to my own work with dwellers of the Malintzi lands of Tlaxcala, where you and Ken explored language and life and blazed new trails so long ago. Though too few and far between, the moments I shared with you, the words I received from you, were always warm, generous and revealing. Nimoyolkokoa, melak. Mah cualli ohtli!

May her eternal soul be at peace.

When I came to the (then) Department it was clearly a collegial place, but Jane really showed how that was done: combining a respect for and active attentiveness to a wide range of modes of inquiry, with brilliant intellect and zero pretension. She was an exemplary colleague, and, without knowing it, a role model for me regarding what being an academic is all about. Oh, and despite the fact that I don't like cheesecake, I somehow found hers to be delicious and secretly hoped she'd bring some to gatherings! You'll be missed, Jane.