Mark Owen Lee, also known as M. Owen Lee and Father Owen Lee (May 28, 1930 – July 25, 2019), was an American-Canadian classics and music scholar and Roman Catholic priest.
Lee was born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, on May 28, 1930 to Robert Leo Lee and Helen (née Miller) Lee.
Father Lee was a member of the
Basilian Fathers
, image = Basilian_Fathers.png
, image_size = 150px
, abbreviation = CSB
, nickname = Basilians
, formation =
, founding_location = Annonay, France
, founders =
, type ...
(C.S.B.) from 1951. He was the first person to be awarded a PhD in Classics at the University of British Columbia (in 1960), a
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of classics at
the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, a holder of four
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
s, and an author of more than 20 books on various subjects, such as opera,
Richard Wagner, and ''
Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
''.
Lee was also active as a commentator on musical topics. He was especially well known for his many contributions as intermission commentator, pianist, and quiz panelist on the
Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.
Lee died in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on July 25, 2019 at the age of 89.
Major writings
* ''Word, Sound, and Image in the Odes of Horace'' (University of Michigan Press, 1969)
* ''Fathers and Sons in Virgil's Aeneid'' (SUNY Press, 1979)
* ''Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round'' (Summit Books, 1990)
* ''First Intermissions'' (Oxford University Press, 1995)
* ''The Olive-Tree Bed and Other Quests'' (University of Toronto Press, 1997)
* ''Wagner: The Terrible Man and his Truthful Art'' (University of Toronto Press, 1999)
* ''A Book of Hours'' (Continuum Press, 2004)
* ''The Great Instrumental Works'' (Amadeus Press, 2005)
* ''The Best Films of Our Years'' (Authorhouse, 2007)
* ''Athena Sings: Wagner and the Greeks'' (University of Toronto Press, 2003)
* ''Wagner and the Wonder of Art: An Introduction to Die Meistersinger'' (University of Toronto Press, 2007)
* ''A Season of Opera: From Orpheus to Ariadne'' (University of Toronto Press, 1998)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, M. Owen
1930 births
2019 deaths
Classical music radio presenters
Writers from Detroit
University of Toronto faculty
American Roman Catholic priests
American writers about music
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Congregation of St. Basil
20th-century American male writers
American male non-fiction writers
American classical scholars
Wagner scholars
American Latinists
Canadian Latinists