The I
I I I II
ortal
“Proff*
“The thing lli.it is me cannot die*.** he said
shortly before his passing, lie spoke the
truth, for his work continues to bear fruit
at Chapel Hill and elsewhere.
IT was a sultry afternoon in the
summer of 1944. The stocky lit¬
tle silver-haired man stood just
outside the proccnium arch casual¬
ly smoking his charred briar pipe
and, as he so aptly put it, “preach¬
ing the gospel."
Before him within the ivy-col¬
ored walls of the little theater sat
a group of students listening eager¬
ly to all that the enthusiastic man
said. They were members of Dr.
Fredrick H. Koch’s Playwriting
Class at the University of North
Carolina.
"When or if you ever hear that
I am dead, don’t you believe it; the
thing that is me — that cannot die,"
“ProfT" said, sacrificing grammati¬
cal accuracy for emphasis.
"Conceited ProfT," one student
scofTed good naturedly.
"Not conceit, it’s the truth," an¬
other replied.
Those words will long be re¬
membered for. just two weeks lat¬
er Professor Fredrick Henry Koch
lay dead on Miami Beach, where
he was vacationing, as the result
of a heart attack.
Believer in Creative Ability
Possessing neither false modesty
nor excessive self-esteen, ProfT
practiced the "gospel" he preached,
recognizing and giving full credit
to the creative spirit wherever and
whenever he saw it. ProfT be¬
lieved in the innate ability of every
man to create. Of artists he has
written. "I believe that when the
Good Book says. ‘God created man
in his own image,' it means that
God imparted to man somewhat
of his own creativeness; in a sense.
He made man a co-creator with
Him -potentially an artist!"
For 2(> years a beloved and color¬
ful figure on the campus of the
University. Dr. Koch was noted
for his soft tweed hat. his Norfolk
jacket, and his fabulous conversa¬
tion. Although having gained rec¬
ognition for his teaching of play-
writing. the versatile ProfT will
also be remembered for his drama¬
tic Shakespearian readings and his
presentation of Dickens' “Christ¬
mas Carol." an annual holiday
event in many Carolina towns.
THE STATE. November 15. 1947
ttft LOUISE NEAL
Born in Covington, Kentucky
in 1877, he spent most of his life
in the theater. Calling himself a
"monomaniac." Proff said that
since he was a child he had lived
drama and the theater. When he
came to the University of North
Carolina in 1918, he had the idea
that there should be a theater for
the development of native folk
drama. His problem was tremen¬
dous. because, before his arrival
there had been no drama classes,
abd there was no building on the
campus suitable for play produc¬
tion.
A characteristic expression during
the course of his annual reading of
Dickens’ "Christmas Carol."
From all sides Proff was urged to
present his problem to the people
of the state and was told that
they would help make his theater
available. He did just that! In
1924 the first troupe of Carolina
Playmakers toured the state, and
in 1925 the present home of the
Playmakers, a converted classroom
building, was dedicated to the de¬
velopment of native drama in
North Carolina.
In this theater “experimcntals."
original plays written, directed,
staged, and produced by students
are presented. Many of these
plays have been published by lead¬
ing publishing houses throughout
the United States, thereby con¬
tributing to the spread of the Folk
Drama movement and to the na¬
tional recognition of Koch and his
Playmakers.
Educated in the public schools
of Kentucky, and at Ohio Wes¬
leyan and Harvard respectively,
where he received the degrees of
Л.В.
and M.A., he began his teach¬
ing career at the University of
North Dakota as an instructor in
the Department of English. ProfT.
however, did not confine his in¬
terests to the classroom, and be¬
fore he left the state, he had de¬
veloped a Dakota theater. In rec¬
ognition of his achievement the
University of North Dakota con¬
ferred on him the honorary degree
of Litt.D.
The stocky little professor had
spoken the truth that summer's
day. "the thing that is me— that
cannot die" — for his belief in the
creative ability of youth lives or.
to bear the fruit of his undying
faith that "there is drama in every
man." Many of his former stu¬
dents, Paul Green, Lillian Heilman,
Betty Smith, Josephina Niggli,
Thomas Wolfe and others, have
justified this faith and reached
zeniths in the worlds of Literature
and the Theater.
The beloved Proff, a legend be¬
fore his time, will live on in the
hearts of all who knew him, be¬
cause the thing that represents
him, "a co-creator" with God, can
never die.
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