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Kate has an amazing sense of humor and could always bring the fun back into whatever we were struggling to work on. She also had a way of looking at things that challenged and supported me. RIP, Kate.

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Kate has an amazing sense of humor and could always bring the fun back into whatever we were struggling to work on. She also had a way of looking at things that challenged and supported me. RIP, Kate.

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Here’s a story I like to tell about Kate. I was walking out of King Library, both arms loaded with books, my back a little stiff from sitting in the stacks all afternoon, when I bumped into Kate walking into King Library. Excited about all I had read that day, how what I’d found out was finally going to get me writing that first dissertation chapter I’d promised her weeks ago, I blathered on about medieval Britain and criminous clerics and the neck verse while Kate patiently listened. When I finally took a breath, she smiled and said, “Darlin’ I’m so glad you’ve had this amazing day, but I have to tell you that you are officially banned from the library as of this moment. Go write the chapter, even if you’re not ready.”

And here’s my confession. Right after hearing of Kate’s passing — thank you Brenda Helmbrecht for such a gentle delivery of such impossible news—I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, pulling books off the shelf (Kate’s books but also books Kate introduced me to), stacking them around me, unfolding the dog-ears and following the pencil marks pointing the way to some of my favorite passages. In my ear and close beside, I swear I heard Kate’s voice, “Well of course you’re reading today, Connie. You know, though, that you should write tomorrow.”

Here are some of the words, Kate’s words, I found along the way. Imperfect Theories. Useable Past. Possibility in a Future. A Gathering of Means. Women’s Rhetoric. Naming. Knowing. Practice. Romantic. Pragmatic. Hope. Belief.

And here’s what I know from spending time again with Kate’s words, reading and remembering. The day I heard of her passing was a hard-earned day, and of course there will be plenty of other days like this to come. For those of us who loved Kate and felt, in ways large and small, her love for us, she remains our reason to believe.

“At the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe” — Bruce Springsteen

~ Connie Kendall Theado

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Todd Edwards, Miami University, Mathematics Educator---Department of Teacher Education

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Todd Edwards, Miami University, Mathematics Educator---Department of Teacher Education

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I have hesitated to write anything in this forum because there really are no words that adequately convey what Kate Ronald meant to me.  Nevertheless, I must do my best to explain my feelings for this most wonderful of human beings.

Let me begin with a story.

I was first introduced to Kate Ronald when she assumed the role of Director of the Howe Writing Center. At the time, I was a member of the Local Howe Advisory Committee and early in my career at Miami University.  From the moment I met Kate, I was drawn to her zest for life, playful nature, and passion for teaching and learning.

In between committee meetings, I made a point to stop by Kate's office in King Library.  Regardless of whatever project Kate was working on, she was never too busy to invite me in to chat. We discussed myriad topics during those times---writing ideas, university politics, tenure struggles, and so much more. As a "probationary" faculty member with three little ones and a wife at home, I was often frazzled, scared, and insecure.  I needed someone to listen, and Kate was always there with a sympathetic ear and a kind heart.  In all of my 51 years, I have yet to meet a wiser soul, a more generous spirit, or a more beautiful human being.

Fast forward ten years.

I'm a tenured full professor now. As I work with colleagues and students, I encounter quite a few people going through struggles similar to my own.  In these moments, I am mindful of all of the qualities that made Kate so special---her sense of humor, her tell-it-like-is attitude, and her compassion for others.  Every time I meet with an anxious faculty member, discuss the revision process or "shitty first drafts" with an insecure writer,  or facilitate a committee meeting with colleagues, Kate is there with me.  I know in such moments she's there with you, too.

Although Kate Ronald has passed away, she isn't gone. She lives on through the people whose lives she touched.

Kate Ronald, I am a better person for having met you.  We all are.  Thank you, Kate Ronald!  I will love and cherish our times together for the rest of my life.

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Shoes: kitten heels, saucy buckle, red. The lady enters, the lady winks.

Typical Kate email in response to a Senate report: "Thanks for the thorough yet perfectly clear overview of a ridiculous set of bureaucratic bullshit, which still impacts our daily lives in ridiculous ways."

Mint juleps.

Roars of laughter from her classroom next door to mine in the BAC basement.

Kindness. Feeling seen.

Love and sympathy to all of you who knew her better than me. She was a joy.

Cathy Wagner

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When I started working with Kate, I had been teaching for over 15 years. I had no idea how deeply she would impact me as an educator. When I saw how she challenged and encouraged us in grad seminars, I immediately started changing the way I interacted with my students. Her written comments on a seminar paper or a chapter draft transformed my approach to commenting on student writing.
I will always remember standing next to Kate at her kitchen sink. We were peeling hard-boiled eggs for a party for another grad student. (Kate knew what she was doing with a deviled egg.) As we chatted and laughed, she subtly asked me about my (slow-moving) dissertation. She listened, asked incisive questions, and gave much-needed encouragement. As soon as I could, I grabbed some paper and started writing notes that jump-started my next chapter. In short, Kate taught me that teaching is about relationships.

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I've been fortunate to have had many great mentors in my professional life who have been wonderful colleagues and better friends. Kate Ronald was one of them. When I began as an assistant professor at Miami University I had the great fortune to be in a wonderful department of good people who cared about teaching, believed that we should push the field to be more inclusive and diverse, and supported students and colleagues.

Kate was not only a mentor to her graduate students but also to faculty. She helped me to become a better teacher, to be an advisor to grad students, and to think about life outside of work. She'd drive me to the airport for an early flight which was no small favor living in Oxford. And she would always make sure I wasn't an orphan for the holidays.

Thinking of Kate and Dennis and the dogs.
Morris Young

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I am among the lucky many who counted Kate Ronald as a mentor and friend. I first met her when I visited Miami as a prospective PhD student in 2010. She complimented my shoes; I didn’t appreciate at the time what an honor that was. In the next five years at Miami, I learned so much from her: whether it was in her graduate course (on the topic of style, of course), at her kitchen table surrounded by friends, as a co-teacher in an undergraduate class on women’s rhetorics, sharing a bottle of wine on a patio, or reading her feedback on dissertation drafts, I always found Kate ready with good advice and a smile.

I am grateful to have learned from Kate’s warmth and wit. May we all carry Kate’s generous spirit in our teaching, scholarship, mentoring, and friendships.

Leigh Gruwell

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I was fortunate enough to take the last graduate seminar she taught—a class on style (of course).

Kate was also on my comprehensive exams committee in 2015. I was studying online harassment, feminism, and Twitter.

At my oral exam, she was struck by a line in my written portion that said "I came to feminism through Twitter." She was so tickled by that because she was not one to be ~*~online~*~

And she replied, "I came to feminism through books and hideous men."

I've never forgotten that.

After I passed my exam, we celebrated at a pub. Kate came in a fur coat and her signature red lipstick.

She commanded such a presence in everything she did and everywhere she went. I'm grateful to have known her.

- Bridget Gelms

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I first met Kate on a campus visit job interview in 2005, and I liked her immediately. She had a warmth and a presence and an intellect that drew people to her. And she was so funny and insightful and brutally honest.

Kate was an important mentor for so many of us. In my first years at Miami while building digital writing and then later creating the Professional Writing major and then following in her footsteps at the Howe Writing Initiative, Kate was an inspiration and someone I would turn to often for her curricular smarts and her institutional savvy. I’d sit at her house or she at mine with our dogs roaming around and we mapped out new courses, strategize approaches, and, of course, talk  about animals and of her great love for Dennis.  Kate’s impact on both the field of Rhetoric and Writing and on our specific programs at Miami are immeasurable. She led the way for so many feminist scholars, and she advocated for writing and writers all her life.

What a fitting legacy to create the Kate Ronald Fellowship!  May we all strive to continue our work with the same generous and collaborative spirit!
--Heidi McKee

Kate with Cindy Lewiecki-Wilson and Heidi McKee

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Kate Ronald transformed the field of rhetoric through her brilliant feminist scholarship and through the work of the many amazing scholar-teachers she mentored not only as graduate students but throughout their careers. Kate also changed so many lives through her deep and joyful commitment to the everyday work of teaching writing. Whether in first-year composition or in a doctoral seminar, Kate immediately lit up any classroom she ever entered and inspired her students to write with passion, insight, and (always) style. All the best advice I have to offer about writing and teaching comes from my directly quoting or riffing on Kate's pithy wisdom. I will be sharing her words with students for years to come.

But, what I most miss about Kate is her mentorship and her friendship. When I first arrived at Miami as a lost and lonely new assistant professor, Kate immediately welcomed me into her life. Kate believed in me when I did not believe in myself; Kate helped me navigate tricky situations with savvy and grace; Kate made me laugh and dance with abandon when I most needed to let loose. I am incredibly grateful for the years I was able to spend as Kate's friend and colleague.
--Jason Palmeri

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Where do I even begin?  Let's just say this . . . Kate Ronald believed in me at a time when I didn't believe in myself.  Her words of encouragement, sense of humor, and HUMANITY meant so much to me as a faculty member on the tenure track.  Kate Ronald is a TREASURE.  She has profoundly impacted the way I interact with colleagues and students.  I do my best to channel her spirit, her heart, and her enthusiasm in all I do at the university (impossible, I know, but a worthy goal nevertheless!).

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Where do I even begin?  Let's just say this . . . Kate Ronald believed in me at a time when I didn't believe in myself.  Her words of encouragement, sense of humor, and HUMANITY meant so much to me as a faculty member on the tenure track.  Kate Ronald is a TREASURE.  She has profoundly impacted the way I interact with colleagues and students.  I do my best to channel her spirit, her heart, and her enthusiasm in all I do at the university (impossible, I know, but a worthy goal nevertheless!).

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I met Kate during faculty orientation on my first day as a professor at Miami. She helped minimized my fears about teaching with humor and grace. I will forever be grateful for her kindness and support.

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I met Kate during faculty orientation on my first day as a professor at Miami. She helped minimized my fears about teaching with humor and grace. I will forever be grateful for her kindness and support.

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Katy Abbott