Students of Dr. Joseph Marion Garrison Jr., who taught American literature, creative writing and poetry classes at Mary Baldwin College from 1965 to 2000, were either terrified of him -- or they loved him.
"Sometimes . . . both," said former colleague Frank R. Southerington of Staunton, retired director of the Mary Baldwin master's program in Shakespeare.
"He was wonderfully demanding. I came here from Europe, with no idea what kind of academic standards I could apply to students. I learned from him that I could demand absolutely the highest standards."
One former student, Abby Peterson, noted on the college Facebook page, "To Joe Garrison, who told me, 'If you perform as everyone else, you'll get a C. C's are average. If you excel, a B. If you teach me something I've never heard, an A.' He scrawled 'Honor Grade' next to the only B+ he ever gave me, and it remains a cherished triumph in my memory."
Dr. Garrison, who died Sunday in a Fishersville health center, will be honored at a memorial service Thursday at 1 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Staunton. He was 75 and lived in Staunton.
"He taught me to read literature and the world in ways I never had known possible to read before," said former student and freelance editor Angier Brock of Yorktown. "He himself was as close a listener as a reader of text.
"He was so responsive to people who he had known as people trying to bring the best souls from themselves. He called forth [the best] from people."
Dr. Garrison often became simply "Joe" to students after graduation. "He gave back in spades to students who stayed in touch," Brock said.
Born in Columbia, Mo., Dr. Garrison grew up in Greensboro, N.C. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Davidson College and a master's degree as well as a doctorate in English from Duke University. He taught at St. Andrews Presbyterian College before going to Mary Baldwin.
An intense man, "whenever Dad noticed something, it was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. He would make it so and make you see it so," said his son, Alan Garrison of Staunton. "If he came home and would see something in the sky -- a pretty sunset or sunrise -- he would spend the next day talking about it and would be very powerful in the image he gave to you."
To Dr. Garrison, who wrote poetry and coached writing and poetry classes in classrooms across Virginia, there was always "a poem in there, somewhere."
In addition to his son, survivors include his wife, Sandra Bond Garrison; a daughter, Kathryn Paige Kullman of Staunton; a sister, Terry Lashley of Greensboro, N.C.; two stepsons, William Conrad Hicklin of Buford, Ga., and James Lawrence Hicklin of Asheville, N.C.; and five grandchildren and four stepgrandchildren.
Contact Ellen Robertson at (804) 649-6115 or erobertson@timesdispatch.com.
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