Throughout his life, Professor Rackin produced poetry and short tales. He wrote and published essays and articles on Victorian literature as well as other subjects, was an authority on Lewis Carroll, and edited a number of periodicals, including Temple University's Faculty Herald and Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors.
He authored books about Lewis Carroll's works, such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: Nonsense, Sense, and Meaning, both of which were published in 1991. He also received the William Riley Parker Prize from the Modern Language Association in 1967 for his essay "Alice's Journey to the End of Night." Additionally, he gave speeches about Carroll and other works of English literature around the nation, in England, Israel, and other countries, as well as made appearances on radio and television shows.
Lewis Carroll, A Celebration was reviewed by Marshall Ledger of the University of Pennsylvania's Pennsylvania Gazette for The Inquirer in 1982. He noted that Professor Rackin's article in the book "stands almost alone in seeing Carroll broadly." He did not dismiss or overlook the comedy, but rather saw it as an essential component of Carroll's pessimistic perspective on the world and the cosmos.
The Lewis Carroll Society of North America, whose board Professor Rackin served on, paid homage to him by saying: “Don was a warm, gentle soul with a fierce intellect always lurking behind his marvelous sense of humor.”
Donald Rackin, a Newark, New Jersey native, was born on February 24, 1933. He attended West Side High School, New York University for three years, and Rutgers University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1954. In 1955, he graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in English. He then spent a short time teaching at Auburn University before earning his doctorate in English from the University of Illinois in 1964.
To teach at Temple, he relocated to Philadelphia in 1962, and he retired in 1995.
At Bradley Beach in New Jersey, Professor Rackin met Phyllis Finkelstein, who was taken aback by his enthusiasm for literature, the arts, and music. They were married in 1954, resided in West Philadelphia, Germantown, and Roxborough, and had two daughters, Rebecca and Ethel.
He supported women's rights, racial rights, and the Coming of Age seniors program while volunteering with the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. He also opposed nuclear proliferation and war. At a candlelight vigil in 2003 to oppose the war in Iraq, he told The Inquirer, "We're here because war is a terrible, foolish idea."
After retiring, he enrolled in a Yiddish course and became a fan of Cat Stevens' song "Morning Has Broken" and the poetry "God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Don had "a sharp mind and a fast wit," according to a tribute from his family. But his warm heart and kind personality were what many who knew him most admired about him.
He excelled in jitterbug dancing in his high school class and was a skilled carpenter, chef, painter, and photographer. He enjoyed sailing, fishing, and spending his summers on Canada's Prince Edward Island.
His wife described him as intelligent and imaginative. People could sense the love and generosity that emanated from him.
Professor Rackin is survived by his wife, his children, a grandchild, and other family members. Two brothers passed away before.
His life will be remembered at Laurel Hill Funeral Home, 225 Belmont Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania 19004, on Sunday, April 23, at 1 p.m.
