Lila Gleitiman (1929-2021)

Dear Friends,

As part of this year's Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), the Society for Language Learning and Development (SLD) will be hosting a memorial for Lila Gleitman, who passed away in August at the age of 91.

Complete information about the memorial can be found here, including ways to post memories on a memory board.

This memorial will be held over Zoom Webinar on Thursday November 4  from 3-5pm.  It will be a live event in which anyone who wishes to say a few words, or sign a few signs, will have the floor briefly (no more than 1 minute each).  You must go here to sign up to participate!   (Sign up no later than Monday October 18, 2021).  And please read on for what we have in mind.

Participation will be modeled loosely after the Lila Gleitman Party, held every year at BUCLD, in which each of Lila's academic 'offspring' would stand up and say who they were and how they were related to Lila. Relations included academic daughters, granddaughters, sons, grandsons, nephews, nieces, but also many other unexpected relations (e.g., cousins, uncles, the milkman, and one time, a complete stranger at the Chinese restaurant where we had the party). This tradition, which lasted longer and longer each year, illustrated the astonishing reach of Lila's influence and legacy at BUCLD and in the field more broadly. It also illustrated how Lila managed to charm so many with her wit and intellect, plus her general fondness for a good time, in which everyone young and old felt welcome and special.  Please don't hesitate to sign up.  Note that organized groups of "relatives" and admirers are welcome!  Have fun, be creative.

The future. Please also note that the officers of the society discussed other options, including the possibility of a festschrift in which scientific talks would be given, but we quickly realized it is simply too soon for those close to Lila to present an intellectual tribute of this sort. Plans are underway though to do something along those lines in the future.

Finally, as you can likely imagine, it has been an especially difficult time for those of us who were close to Lila (this includes several of you on this email list).  We loved Lila dearly. She was an inspiration to all of us, and a guiding light to many personally and intellectually.  We hope you can join us to honor Lila's legacy at this event but also in other ways in the years to come.

Sincerely,

SLD Officers

Society for Language Learning and Development

Note on accessibility. ASL interpretation will be provided during the memorial. If you have other accessibility requests / questions, please email John Trueswell at trueswel@psych.upenn.edu.  Thank you!