Ralph Ranald
By Stephen A. Black, President, Eugene O'Neill Society (2000-2001)

Some of us who were in the O'Neill Society in the 1980s and '90s (and before) got to know Ralph Ranald along with Margaret Loftus Ranald. Margaret is author of what to me is the most useful and reliable general reference book about O'Neill, The Eugene O'Neill Companion (1984), and had been president of the Shakespeare Society before she became president of the O'Neill Society in 1997.

One day in late October 2006, the Ranalds had been out for the day with a friend from California and had just returned to their apartment on Central Park West in New York City. Ralph excused himself, went into the bedroom and died quietly of a heart attack. He had been ailing off and on for some extended time, and his doctor had recommended heart surgery, but he declined. He had kept the news of his ailment from his family because he had made up his mind against surgery, and he died as he wanted to in a family that was still doing everything they wanted to and could do so without worry about his health.

Ralph led a remarkably full and interesting life. He graduated with Honors (including Phi Beta Kappa) from UCLA. He and Margaret met at UCLA where she was studying English literature on a Fulbright Graduate Fellowship (she was born and had her earlier education in New Zealand). In the early 1950s, Ralph entered the US Army and served as a paratrooper in the famed 82nd Airborne Division. At that time, he and Margaret married. Following his military service, he went to Princeton where he earned his PhD in English. After his service, he taught literature at Fordham, and also took a law degree from Fordham. For the rest of their careers he continued to teach literature at Fordham while Margaret taught at Queens College, CUNY.

The Ranalds traveled all over the world—literally. When I first met them they had just returned from China. Just before Ralph died, they had been on a long trip to New Zealand, Australia and England. On frequent trips to England they attended meetings of the Shakespeare Society at Stratford-Upon-Avon. Their daughter, Caroline Margaret Ranald, who is married to John Curvan, gave Ralph and Margaret two grandsons, Sean Benjamin and William Joseph. What a splendid life Ralph and Margaret enjoyed together.