The UC Berkeley Department of English mourns the passing of Professor Emeritus George Starr. Professor Starr was a linchpin of the department for 60 years, from his appointment as Assistant Professor of English in 1962 until his retirement in 2021. Starr served the department and the campus in numerous ways during his career, and he was an especially important voice on matters relating to the University Library. He was also the shaping spirit and guiding hand of the English department library, which is named in his honor.
One of the world's leading scholars and editors of Daniel Defoe, the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as an ACLS Fellowship, Starr was the author of two books on Defoe -- Defoe and Spiritual Autobiography (1962) and Defoe and Casuistry (1971) -- as well as numerous articles on Defoe and eighteenth-century British literature. His editions of a number of Defoe's works, including Moll Flanders, are standards in the field. Starr taught a wide variety of classes in the department, on eighteenth-century literature, American humor, Utopias and Dystopias, and modern California novels and films, which became his signature class over the past decade or so. George gave so much of his time, energy, and brilliance to the department over the years, and he singlehandedly maintained the department library up to and beyond his retirement. We will miss him deeply.