On Canada Day Donna and I spent some time on Parliament Hill with a friend of her's, and a friend of that friend who just happened to have recently left the Costumes Studies program at Dalhousie. She mentioned that a faculty member had died last year, and as I was running through the names of the teachers there, an increasing sense of dread grew in me. It was Dr. Robert Merritt, my old playwriting teacher who had, through his film reviews on CBC Radio in Halifax, inspired me to study theatre specifically and the creative media more generally. Robert was also central to my attending graduate school at Concordia, providing long-distance encouragement and writing a positive and honest letter of recommendation.
I contacted Prof. David Overton, still at Dalhousie and my old performance teacher, who told me that Robert had suffered congestive heart failure a couple of years ago, and had been diagnosed with cancer in April 2000. The cancer was inoperable because of its proximity to his heart, and he was still undergoing tests to determine a course of treatment when he died unexpectedly. David Overton wrote me that
I had coffee with Robert two days before he died, and he was in no particular discomfort from the illness, so on one level I console myself with the fact that he was spared the pain that accompanies terminal cancer. Still, he was much too young, both in age and spirit, to die.
His passing has certainly affected his former students. We had a memorial for him in the fall, and many of them turned out for it. All had fond memories of him, and told the same kind of stories you tell of generosity and guidance both during the time they were at Dal and afterwards.
Robert changed my life. He set an example for me that I strive to meet, everyday. I wish I could tell him how much he did for me. Robert, Thank you.
"Don't take life seriously, son. 'Tain't nohow permanent."
Update
Theatre Nova Scotia, non-profit organization committed to encouraging and supporting all aspects of live theatre in Nova Scotia, has established an awards program named in honour of Robert: the Merritt Awards.
