John D’Emilio, renowned professor of gay studies, retires

In his essay "A Defense of Poetry," Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote that history was composed of "the episodes of that cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of men. The past, like an inspired rhapsodist, fills the theatre of everlasting generations with their harmony."

John D'Emilio loves history—a story of change passed from one to another and replete with critical lessons, fledgling ideologies and the nucleus of identity. He not only lived episodes of the cyclic poem of the LGBTQ community and its multi-faceted, impassioned social movements, he became the inspired rhapsodist who taught it to a new generation.

D'Emilio recently retired from a 15-year position as a professor of history and women's and gender studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago ( UIC ). A May 15 dinner held at RoSals Italian Kitchen near the UIC campus made the moment all too real for him. "My feelings right now are complex," he told Windy City Times. "I've often thought of being an academic as my day job. As my career has progressed and my stature in academic life has grown, the day job has taken over. I need to get back to a combination of intellectual work with activism, advocacy and community organizing because that's where I came from."