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The goal of this book is to prove that Latin is not a dead language by demonstrating how prevalent and strong it still is in modern Western culture. In order to do so, the author, an English philologist with a long experience as a Latin educator, catalogues, explains and interprets Latin quotations and references in a multitude of twentieth- and twenty-first-century literary works by-primarily-mainstream authors (from Aldous Huxley to Saul Bellow to John Irving), crime/mystery writers (from Raymond Chandler to Elizabeth George to Dennis Lehane) and frontier/western novelists (from Emerson Hough to Larry McMurtry). The three areas of fiction constituting the main scope of the book indicate the author's major interest and preference, as well as the subject matter of his extensive research, both prior and current-the former related to his already published books.
The writers offering the most impressive contributions to the thesis are featured in the three parts of the main body; those with lesser input are listed in the Appendix. The prospective readers of the book include all Latin students and educators at the secondary and college levels worldwide.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Henryk Hoffmann was born, raised and educated in Poznä, Poland. Upon his graduation from Adam Mickiewicz University with an MA in English Philology, he worked as an English teacher, translator and interpreter in several institutions, including his alma mater, the Polish Academy of Sciences and his self-owned firm. Since his immigration to the USA in 1992 he has taught Latin, German, English and History, first in North Carolina and then in Pennsylvania.
He is the author of five reference books-"A" Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses (McFarland, 2000, 2008), Western Film Highlights: The Best of the West, 1914-2001 (McFarland, 2003, 2009), Leksykon gwiazd kina amerykäskiego (A Biographical Dictionary of American Movie Stars, Agencja Producentów Filmowych, Warsaw, 2006; written in Polish in collaboration with his daughters, Beata and Katarzyna), Western Movie References in American Literature (McFarland, 2012) and Four Hollywood Legends in World Literature: References to Bogart, Cooper, Gable and Tracy (BearManor Media, 2016); and one memoir-Ironies, Coincidences and Absurdities in My Ordinary Life on Both Sides of the Atlantic (Higher Ground Books & Media, 2019).
Hoffmann's professional honors include the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition (2000) for his first book, a two-time inclusion in Who's Who Among America's Teachers (Educational Communications, 2002 and 2005), an entry in Contemporary Authors (Thomson Gale, 2005) and an Honorary Diploma from the Polish Federation of Film Societies (on its 50th Anniversary, 2006).
At present Hoffmann works at Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, PA, where he teaches Latin and German. He is an active member of the Western Writers of America and lives, with his wife Betsy, in Lititz, PA.
