Ron BLADEL
Dr. Roderick Bladel passed away on August 10, 2023
Tribute to Ron Bladel
Dear Friends,
I am writing with the sad news of the passing of Library staff member Dr. Roderick Bladel who passed away on August 10, 2023 at the remarkable age of 93. Dr. Bladel was an integral part of our Library for an astonishing 58 years.
His dedicated service, spanning from 1964 to 2023, encompassed a variety of roles: Library Technical Assistant (part-time, LTA I, LTA III), Librarian I, Librarian II at the Billy Rose Theatre Division, and subsequently as a Librarian in the Special Collections processing unit.
Fondly known to us as Rod, he was born on September 30, 1929, in Rock Island, Illinois. His passion for movies ignited at an early age, along with dreams of becoming an actor. In 1947, he commenced his studies at UCLA, focusing on Theatre Arts-English, and actively participated in college stage productions and a few films.
Rod's journey with the Library commenced in the summer of 1964 when he joined the Theatre Division as a part-time temp, during the period when the division occupied a small corner of the Main Reading Room on 42nd Street. At that time, the Chief of the Theatre Division was George Freedley, whose A History of the Theatre (1941) coincidentally featured as a standard text in Rod's UCLA course syllabus.
On July 20, 1965, Rod rejoined the Theatre Division on a temporary one-year appointment, which eventually transitioned into a full-time permanent role. He was present on the day the building opened its doors to the public and officially joined the staff on the following day. During his tenure, he fulfilled various public service responsibilities and concentrated on Freedley's project of archiving reviews from esteemed publications like The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post. He meticulously collected clips and scripts related to theatre, and enthusiastically guided patrons to the Theatre Division's reading room. Throughout his career, he displayed unwavering dedication to the Robinson Locke scrapbooks and worked to ensure accessibility to the Billy Rose Theatre Division's clipping program files for patrons.
In parallel to his library work, Rod pursued his degree at Yale University, diligently crafting his dissertation on Saturdays. Despite changes in leadership, including Paul Myers becoming Chief of the Theatre Division in 1966, and Dorothy Swerdlove becoming the division's first assistant, Rod remained resolute in his commitment to clipping reviews, often assisted by a dedicated team, ensuring the continuity of the project.
In 1969, Rod expanded the clipping project to include four more periodicals: The New Yorker, the Saturday Review, the New Republic, and the Village Voice. The following year, in 1970, Rod completed his course in librarianship at Simmons College in Boston. He had originally applied to Columbia University in pursuit of this education but he remarked that he was ahead of his time as Columbia did not accept his application, the reason they gave him being that they did not agree that theater was a liberal art. This setback, however, did not deter Rod's passion for theatre preservation.
Simultaneously in 1970, Rod embarked on indexing the White Studio Collection of negatives, amassed between 1911 and 1936, and entrusted to the Library in 1956. The nitrate negatives were carefully processed, cataloged, and identified, showcasing Rod's dedication and commitment. He even acquired skills in film development through a course at FIT to create glossy prints for accurate identification of group shots and individual productions. Rod's growing connections with actors and directors in New York further facilitated the identification of production titles and the individuals featured in the photographs.
Rod's journey continued into the 1980s when he actively contributed to expanding the script collection by soliciting cinema screenplays. He ventured to Hollywood, establishing relationships with studios and acquiring cinema scripts from storefront shops, screenwriters, and actors.
With the introduction of the AREV electronic cataloging records in 1993, the Theatre Division still had approximately 660,000 cards in catalog drawers. By 2019, Rod had diligently gathered and indexed reviews up until the 2019 New York Theatre season. During the same year, he embarked on cataloging the Autograph Photographs in the Theatre Division collection, resuming this task after a pause due to the pandemic.
This encapsulation of Rod's years of service to the Library simultaneously reflects the institution's history, the evolution of the Theatre Division, and the significance of Special Collections. His lifelong dedication to his passions and unwavering commitment to sharing his love for theatre with patrons are not merely admirable but truly inspirational. His unwavering devotion serves as a testament to the Library's resilience and the enduring legacy he has left behind, contributing to its growth.
Rod will be missed but his impact will endure and I hope it will inspire us all.
Sincerely,
Brent
Brent Reidy Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries
Clarification: Dr. Bladel received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1970 and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1961. A slideshow may be viewed with this LINK
Remembrances:
Dr. Bladel conducted a short video interview for the virtual gala we held in 2021. Here's the unedited, uncut version of Dr. Bladel's interview for the gala video. Even with the sound problems and the oddly shaky camera, I was really glad to watch it again. I know compared to many of you I only had the opportunity to know him a short time, but I'm so grateful for his unfailing dedication to the Theatre division. He truly was a remarkable man.
—Doug R.
Rod was the first person to welcome me to the Theatre Collection when I was hired in 1991. Brought in to update the way collections were organized and processed in the Theatre Collection, my role was viewed with suspicion. Rod was there to tell me he was glad that I was there to work with the materials. Though he was a long-time member of the department, he did not reject new methods for making the materials available to the researchers. When we closed the card catalog and automated our cataloging using the local system AREV, he came to me so I could teach him how to catalog his materials in a new way. He was dedicated to the department, to the subject of theater and to the researchers that came to the library to research, write their books or even just for fun. He was the quintessential librarian and a credit to the profession and to the New York Public Library.
—Mary Ellen R.
Rod was the genie at the hearth of the Theatre Division for over half a century. He was selfless in service to Library patrons, dedicated to access to critical analysis of theatre performance. His opinions on collecting and public service were invaluable to me over the decades. I knew Rod as a gracious and loyal friend who showed his humor in an eruptive laugh. It was a privilege to be his colleague.
—Karen N.
Rod Bladel was a man who believed with an almost fanatical dedication that every piece of paper had its place. I spied him on occasion in the mornings on his way to work walking toward the Library's entrance on Amsterdam Avenue. He would stop frequently along the sidewalk, bend over and pick up a scrap of paper that had been left behind by some scoundrel of a litterbug. And sometimes he would have with him a little plastic shopping bag from Gristede's or the Red Apple and, by the time he walked through the door, the little bag would be spilling over with other people's litter. Rod would deposit the bag in the nearest Library trash can because that's where litter belonged.
He was even more fervent about clippings from newspapers. Each of them too had a destination and that destination was one of the thousands of clipping folders in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection. These folders are filled with—no exaggeration—literally millions of clippings. And I think I can speak with confidence when I say that several of those millions were supplied by Rod Bladel during his half-century with the Library of Performing Arts. Much of his professional life was dedicated to clipping articles about theatre from a dozen or so newspapers. He believed profoundly in the usefulness of clippings. And researchers heartily agreed with him. The clipping folders were among the most frequently requested resources from the Theatre Collection's archives.
After the emergence of the internet as a research tool, there was a good deal of doubt about the need for clippings. And some folks in the administrative hierarchy discouraged the cutting of clippings. On the occasions when Rod was told to stop clipping, he would nod in humble acquiescence, return to his cubicle, pick up his scissors and merrily resume his sworn duty of clipping article after article from the New York Times and other major journals as well as several fringe publications. And he was always happy to show you examples of articles he had clipped that had never appeared anywhere online. I believe he celebrated internally every time he spotted a researcher studiously examining and taking notes from a dozen or so clippings laid out on the table in front of him.
He was an affable fellow as well—always loath to make an uncharitable remark about anyone.
A lovable eccentric who enjoyed hearing or telling an amusing story about performers, directors or anyone in the trade. And having experienced the rigors of a PhD thesis himself, as a reference librarian he proved consistently helpful to the younger generations of doctoral candidates. His knowledge of the Broadway theatre was encyclopedic and he was decidedly generous in sharing it with researchers of every age and ilk.
Still, with Rod, it always comes back to the clippings. It's the millions of clippings in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection that will remain his legacy—a palpable, collective monument to the passion and dedication of an exemplary, if slightly unconventional, librarian.
—Bob T.
In addition to his extraordinary commitment to the Theatre Division, to public service, and to the preservation of the documents of theater history and practice in all formats, Rod Bladel was an accomplished actor.
In 1997, I produced a series of public programs at LPA celebrating the recently acquired Lillian Gish Papers. It was a high-profile series, inaugurated by Mrs. Vincent Astor and featuring many of Lillian Gish’s friends and colleagues. One of the programs was dedicated to Lillian’s sister Dorothy, whose archive was included in the new collection. For the program “Homage to Dorothy Gish,” which took place on April 10, 1997, I recruited three of Dorothy Gish’s friends to share their reminiscences and to read materials from the collection: Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Elizabeth Ross. At a meeting with the actors, we agreed that it would be nice to conclude our program with a few short scenes from The Story of Mary Surratt, the 1947 play in which Dorothy Gish played the first woman executed by the U.S. Federal Government for taking part in the conspiracy that led to the assassination of President Lincoln. At fairly short notice, I had to find another actor to play the priest who visits Mary Surratt in prison. Rather than agonizing over whom I might engage for a Thursday night program, and having heard about Dr. Bladel’s acting skills, I felt he would be perfect for the role. I asked Rod if he would be interested, giving him a copy of the script and telling him that it would require a few rehearsals with Anne Jackson. He was thrilled with the idea and accepted immediately.
Rod worked with the other actors with the same grace and dedication that he brought to his position as librarian. The other actors loved working with him. The program went well and was videotaped for TOFT. I worked with Eli and Anne many times after that, and over the years they asked after Rod, remembering with affection the pleasure they had in working with him.
—Alan P.
I met Rod Bladel in 1988 when I toured the Theatre Collection during orientation. I was intrigued by the group he was leading to clip and fix theater reviews into scrapbooks, and the extensive clipping files that were kept in the collection. I had just come off of a project to catalog theater programs at Dartmouth College and I saw the Theatre Collection files as a continuation of that great publication, Annals of the New York Stage, by George C.D. Odell (New York : Columbia University Press, 1927-49). Odell ended with the 1894 New York season and the files at NYPL held the key to all of the openings, first night casts, prime theater reviews, and everything we need to know about the history of New York theater from that moment on. We are all so lucky that Rod continued through all of his 50 plus years of service in his role as the keeper of that knowledge.
—Virginia B.
Dr. Bladel is irreplaceable; his passing is truly the end of an era.
—Patricia D.
I remember that, in reference to their extraordinary work on what used to be called the Public Catalog—the original Theatre Division card catalog of typed P-slips—Rod Bladel would say that marking up and stripping newspapers for cutting was 'just digging for crude', while Don Fowle, who assigned subject headings to the clipped articles with exacting specifications, was the one who 'refined the raw materials.'
They were a powerful team of intellectual authority and a deep love of theatre—the authors, along with the rest of the Theatre Collection staff, of Notable Names in the American Theatre, a reference book that I, a new librarian at age 23, had learned about in library school. I was in awe. It was a singular professional experience to have been mentored by them as a young person, the luckiest of my life. I've tried to live up to their standards ever since.
—Christine K.
I've always said that I want to be Dr. Bladel when I grow up (I've worked with him for 28 years). As a library worker, he was the soul of dedication, whose personal life was hard to distinguish from his professional one. In addition to his many cataloging projects over the years, he also volunteered an untold number of hours to help process, neaten and clarify the Theatre Division's clippings files on actors. His motive may have been to give justice to his fellow actors' careers but his definite purpose was to give better access to the history of performance for library researchers.
I've always been inspired by Dr. Bladel's work ethic and his core belief in the mission of the Library in its role of providing free access to information. That all sounds rather serious, but it should be noted how much joy it gave him to work in the Library. How often his wholesome laugh suddenly rang out when he encountered something funny in the files. Being his cube-mate for many years, his enthusiasm was infectious, and I always looked forward to what he'd bring over to share (like the one-sentence review for the boring war movie Tora! Tora! Tora!: "Snora, snora snora..."). He'd always conclude with a chuckle and "This makes the job worth it."
Due to his modesty, it may be difficult for some to fully appreciate his accomplishments and the full dimensions of the rich life that was his, but when better public servants are recognized, Dr. Bladel will be among them.
—Jeremy M.
Dr. Bladel was the kind of person we're lucky to meet once in a lifetime. I've always considered him the generous pater familias of the Theatre Division, with extraordinary expertise in acting, directing, theatre history and librarianship. He was the driving force behind so many of our most-consulted Special Collections, especially our 100 years of theatre reviews, our multitude of artist and subject files, and our modern theatre and film scripts collection—resources unparalleled in any other institution. He was also a deeply kind, curious, and thoughtful colleague and dear friend. He and I spent countless hours dissecting cataloging practice together, comparing notes about collections, and sharing ideas about what our researchers needed most. But just as much, I loved his ready laughter and quick wit when regaling me with stories about his vibrant life on stage and here at LPA. His legacy is incalculable and I miss him tremendously.
—Annmarie v R.
Very sorry to hear about Rod. My relationship with him went back long before we were work colleagues—almost 40 years ago when I was a young researcher going through all our silent comedy related clippings. I remember asking for certain folders, to which he'd give me a long look, with his head cocked and one eye closed, and say "Why do you need to see this?" No matter what I stammered out he always got me the folder.
—Stephen M.
Dr. Roderick Bladel passed away on August 10, 2023
Tribute to Ron Bladel
Dear Friends,
I am writing with the sad news of the passing of Library staff member Dr. Roderick Bladel who passed away on August 10, 2023 at the remarkable age of 93. Dr. Bladel was an integral part of our Library for an astonishing 58 years.
His dedicated service, spanning from 1964 to 2023, encompassed a variety of roles: Library Technical Assistant (part-time, LTA I, LTA III), Librarian I, Librarian II at the Billy Rose Theatre Division, and subsequently as a Librarian in the Special Collections processing unit.
Fondly known to us as Rod, he was born on September 30, 1929, in Rock Island, Illinois. His passion for movies ignited at an early age, along with dreams of becoming an actor. In 1947, he commenced his studies at UCLA, focusing on Theatre Arts-English, and actively participated in college stage productions and a few films.
Rod's journey with the Library commenced in the summer of 1964 when he joined the Theatre Division as a part-time temp, during the period when the division occupied a small corner of the Main Reading Room on 42nd Street. At that time, the Chief of the Theatre Division was George Freedley, whose A History of the Theatre (1941) coincidentally featured as a standard text in Rod's UCLA course syllabus.
On July 20, 1965, Rod rejoined the Theatre Division on a temporary one-year appointment, which eventually transitioned into a full-time permanent role. He was present on the day the building opened its doors to the public and officially joined the staff on the following day. During his tenure, he fulfilled various public service responsibilities and concentrated on Freedley's project of archiving reviews from esteemed publications like The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post. He meticulously collected clips and scripts related to theatre, and enthusiastically guided patrons to the Theatre Division's reading room. Throughout his career, he displayed unwavering dedication to the Robinson Locke scrapbooks and worked to ensure accessibility to the Billy Rose Theatre Division's clipping program files for patrons.
In parallel to his library work, Rod pursued his degree at Yale University, diligently crafting his dissertation on Saturdays. Despite changes in leadership, including Paul Myers becoming Chief of the Theatre Division in 1966, and Dorothy Swerdlove becoming the division's first assistant, Rod remained resolute in his commitment to clipping reviews, often assisted by a dedicated team, ensuring the continuity of the project.
In 1969, Rod expanded the clipping project to include four more periodicals: The New Yorker, the Saturday Review, the New Republic, and the Village Voice. The following year, in 1970, Rod completed his course in librarianship at Simmons College in Boston. He had originally applied to Columbia University in pursuit of this education but he remarked that he was ahead of his time as Columbia did not accept his application, the reason they gave him being that they did not agree that theater was a liberal art. This setback, however, did not deter Rod's passion for theatre preservation.
Simultaneously in 1970, Rod embarked on indexing the White Studio Collection of negatives, amassed between 1911 and 1936, and entrusted to the Library in 1956. The nitrate negatives were carefully processed, cataloged, and identified, showcasing Rod's dedication and commitment. He even acquired skills in film development through a course at FIT to create glossy prints for accurate identification of group shots and individual productions. Rod's growing connections with actors and directors in New York further facilitated the identification of production titles and the individuals featured in the photographs.
Rod's journey continued into the 1980s when he actively contributed to expanding the script collection by soliciting cinema screenplays. He ventured to Hollywood, establishing relationships with studios and acquiring cinema scripts from storefront shops, screenwriters, and actors.
With the introduction of the AREV electronic cataloging records in 1993, the Theatre Division still had approximately 660,000 cards in catalog drawers. By 2019, Rod had diligently gathered and indexed reviews up until the 2019 New York Theatre season. During the same year, he embarked on cataloging the Autograph Photographs in the Theatre Division collection, resuming this task after a pause due to the pandemic.
This encapsulation of Rod's years of service to the Library simultaneously reflects the institution's history, the evolution of the Theatre Division, and the significance of Special Collections. His lifelong dedication to his passions and unwavering commitment to sharing his love for theatre with patrons are not merely admirable but truly inspirational. His unwavering devotion serves as a testament to the Library's resilience and the enduring legacy he has left behind, contributing to its growth.
Rod will be missed but his impact will endure and I hope it will inspire us all.
Sincerely,
Brent
Brent Reidy Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries
Clarification: Dr. Bladel received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1970 and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1961. A slideshow may be viewed with this LINK
Remembrances:
Dr. Bladel conducted a short video interview for the virtual gala we held in 2021. Here's the unedited, uncut version of Dr. Bladel's interview for the gala video. Even with the sound problems and the oddly shaky camera, I was really glad to watch it again. I know compared to many of you I only had the opportunity to know him a short time, but I'm so grateful for his unfailing dedication to the Theatre division. He truly was a remarkable man.
—Doug R.
Rod was the first person to welcome me to the Theatre Collection when I was hired in 1991. Brought in to update the way collections were organized and processed in the Theatre Collection, my role was viewed with suspicion. Rod was there to tell me he was glad that I was there to work with the materials. Though he was a long-time member of the department, he did not reject new methods for making the materials available to the researchers. When we closed the card catalog and automated our cataloging using the local system AREV, he came to me so I could teach him how to catalog his materials in a new way. He was dedicated to the department, to the subject of theater and to the researchers that came to the library to research, write their books or even just for fun. He was the quintessential librarian and a credit to the profession and to the New York Public Library.
—Mary Ellen R.
Rod was the genie at the hearth of the Theatre Division for over half a century. He was selfless in service to Library patrons, dedicated to access to critical analysis of theatre performance. His opinions on collecting and public service were invaluable to me over the decades. I knew Rod as a gracious and loyal friend who showed his humor in an eruptive laugh. It was a privilege to be his colleague.
—Karen N.
Rod Bladel was a man who believed with an almost fanatical dedication that every piece of paper had its place. I spied him on occasion in the mornings on his way to work walking toward the Library's entrance on Amsterdam Avenue. He would stop frequently along the sidewalk, bend over and pick up a scrap of paper that had been left behind by some scoundrel of a litterbug. And sometimes he would have with him a little plastic shopping bag from Gristede's or the Red Apple and, by the time he walked through the door, the little bag would be spilling over with other people's litter. Rod would deposit the bag in the nearest Library trash can because that's where litter belonged.
He was even more fervent about clippings from newspapers. Each of them too had a destination and that destination was one of the thousands of clipping folders in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection. These folders are filled with—no exaggeration—literally millions of clippings. And I think I can speak with confidence when I say that several of those millions were supplied by Rod Bladel during his half-century with the Library of Performing Arts. Much of his professional life was dedicated to clipping articles about theatre from a dozen or so newspapers. He believed profoundly in the usefulness of clippings. And researchers heartily agreed with him. The clipping folders were among the most frequently requested resources from the Theatre Collection's archives.
After the emergence of the internet as a research tool, there was a good deal of doubt about the need for clippings. And some folks in the administrative hierarchy discouraged the cutting of clippings. On the occasions when Rod was told to stop clipping, he would nod in humble acquiescence, return to his cubicle, pick up his scissors and merrily resume his sworn duty of clipping article after article from the New York Times and other major journals as well as several fringe publications. And he was always happy to show you examples of articles he had clipped that had never appeared anywhere online. I believe he celebrated internally every time he spotted a researcher studiously examining and taking notes from a dozen or so clippings laid out on the table in front of him.
He was an affable fellow as well—always loath to make an uncharitable remark about anyone.
A lovable eccentric who enjoyed hearing or telling an amusing story about performers, directors or anyone in the trade. And having experienced the rigors of a PhD thesis himself, as a reference librarian he proved consistently helpful to the younger generations of doctoral candidates. His knowledge of the Broadway theatre was encyclopedic and he was decidedly generous in sharing it with researchers of every age and ilk.
Still, with Rod, it always comes back to the clippings. It's the millions of clippings in the Billy Rose Theatre Collection that will remain his legacy—a palpable, collective monument to the passion and dedication of an exemplary, if slightly unconventional, librarian.
—Bob T.
In addition to his extraordinary commitment to the Theatre Division, to public service, and to the preservation of the documents of theater history and practice in all formats, Rod Bladel was an accomplished actor.
In 1997, I produced a series of public programs at LPA celebrating the recently acquired Lillian Gish Papers. It was a high-profile series, inaugurated by Mrs. Vincent Astor and featuring many of Lillian Gish’s friends and colleagues. One of the programs was dedicated to Lillian’s sister Dorothy, whose archive was included in the new collection. For the program “Homage to Dorothy Gish,” which took place on April 10, 1997, I recruited three of Dorothy Gish’s friends to share their reminiscences and to read materials from the collection: Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Elizabeth Ross. At a meeting with the actors, we agreed that it would be nice to conclude our program with a few short scenes from The Story of Mary Surratt, the 1947 play in which Dorothy Gish played the first woman executed by the U.S. Federal Government for taking part in the conspiracy that led to the assassination of President Lincoln. At fairly short notice, I had to find another actor to play the priest who visits Mary Surratt in prison. Rather than agonizing over whom I might engage for a Thursday night program, and having heard about Dr. Bladel’s acting skills, I felt he would be perfect for the role. I asked Rod if he would be interested, giving him a copy of the script and telling him that it would require a few rehearsals with Anne Jackson. He was thrilled with the idea and accepted immediately.
Rod worked with the other actors with the same grace and dedication that he brought to his position as librarian. The other actors loved working with him. The program went well and was videotaped for TOFT. I worked with Eli and Anne many times after that, and over the years they asked after Rod, remembering with affection the pleasure they had in working with him.
—Alan P.
I met Rod Bladel in 1988 when I toured the Theatre Collection during orientation. I was intrigued by the group he was leading to clip and fix theater reviews into scrapbooks, and the extensive clipping files that were kept in the collection. I had just come off of a project to catalog theater programs at Dartmouth College and I saw the Theatre Collection files as a continuation of that great publication, Annals of the New York Stage, by George C.D. Odell (New York : Columbia University Press, 1927-49). Odell ended with the 1894 New York season and the files at NYPL held the key to all of the openings, first night casts, prime theater reviews, and everything we need to know about the history of New York theater from that moment on. We are all so lucky that Rod continued through all of his 50 plus years of service in his role as the keeper of that knowledge.
—Virginia B.
Dr. Bladel is irreplaceable; his passing is truly the end of an era.
—Patricia D.
I remember that, in reference to their extraordinary work on what used to be called the Public Catalog—the original Theatre Division card catalog of typed P-slips—Rod Bladel would say that marking up and stripping newspapers for cutting was 'just digging for crude', while Don Fowle, who assigned subject headings to the clipped articles with exacting specifications, was the one who 'refined the raw materials.'
They were a powerful team of intellectual authority and a deep love of theatre—the authors, along with the rest of the Theatre Collection staff, of Notable Names in the American Theatre, a reference book that I, a new librarian at age 23, had learned about in library school. I was in awe. It was a singular professional experience to have been mentored by them as a young person, the luckiest of my life. I've tried to live up to their standards ever since.
—Christine K.
I've always said that I want to be Dr. Bladel when I grow up (I've worked with him for 28 years). As a library worker, he was the soul of dedication, whose personal life was hard to distinguish from his professional one. In addition to his many cataloging projects over the years, he also volunteered an untold number of hours to help process, neaten and clarify the Theatre Division's clippings files on actors. His motive may have been to give justice to his fellow actors' careers but his definite purpose was to give better access to the history of performance for library researchers.
I've always been inspired by Dr. Bladel's work ethic and his core belief in the mission of the Library in its role of providing free access to information. That all sounds rather serious, but it should be noted how much joy it gave him to work in the Library. How often his wholesome laugh suddenly rang out when he encountered something funny in the files. Being his cube-mate for many years, his enthusiasm was infectious, and I always looked forward to what he'd bring over to share (like the one-sentence review for the boring war movie Tora! Tora! Tora!: "Snora, snora snora..."). He'd always conclude with a chuckle and "This makes the job worth it."
Due to his modesty, it may be difficult for some to fully appreciate his accomplishments and the full dimensions of the rich life that was his, but when better public servants are recognized, Dr. Bladel will be among them.
—Jeremy M.
Dr. Bladel was the kind of person we're lucky to meet once in a lifetime. I've always considered him the generous pater familias of the Theatre Division, with extraordinary expertise in acting, directing, theatre history and librarianship. He was the driving force behind so many of our most-consulted Special Collections, especially our 100 years of theatre reviews, our multitude of artist and subject files, and our modern theatre and film scripts collection—resources unparalleled in any other institution. He was also a deeply kind, curious, and thoughtful colleague and dear friend. He and I spent countless hours dissecting cataloging practice together, comparing notes about collections, and sharing ideas about what our researchers needed most. But just as much, I loved his ready laughter and quick wit when regaling me with stories about his vibrant life on stage and here at LPA. His legacy is incalculable and I miss him tremendously.
—Annmarie v R.
Very sorry to hear about Rod. My relationship with him went back long before we were work colleagues—almost 40 years ago when I was a young researcher going through all our silent comedy related clippings. I remember asking for certain folders, to which he'd give me a long look, with his head cocked and one eye closed, and say "Why do you need to see this?" No matter what I stammered out he always got me the folder.
—Stephen M.