Michael Quinn, UW Drama Professor

When Professor Michael Quinn was in his office at the University of Washington drama department, odds were that his door was open, a pot of coffee was brewing and he was sitting in his wooden rocking chair, available to the many students and colleagues eager to speak with him.

Recalls Mr. Quinn's wife, Diane, "A lot of his students have told me that if they had a question, Michael always found them the answer or told them how to get it. And the great thing was that he did it in a way that never made them feel stupid."

Mr. Quinn had every right to flaunt his extensive knowledge. The Missouri-bred academic, who died at Group Health Hospital on Capitol Hill at age 36 on Saturday from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was a brilliant and precocious authority on modern theater.

Although he loved to travel and to hike in the wilderness, his greatest passion was drama.

In short order, he received a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from Southwest Missouri State University, a master's in theater from the University of Massachusetts, and at age 29 he completed a doctorate in drama at Stanford University.

A profound interest in the plays and politics of Czech president and playwright Vaclav Havel led Mr. Quinn to make five research trips to Prague for a book he was writing about Havel's artistry.

In 1989, after teaching stints at the University of Iowa and the State University of New York, Mr. Quinn became the head of the UW drama department's doctorate program. In addition to teaching, he served as editor of Theatre Survey and on the editorial board of Modern Language Quarterly, two respected academic drama journals.

He directed UW student productions and was a literary adviser to the Group Theatre.

Yet despite such achievements, the boyish-looking and always affable Mr. Quinn wore his erudition lightly. He was often younger than his colleagues and the graduate students he fostered, and yet he quietly commanded respect from them all.

Two of his recent UW doctoral students, Lue Douthit and Tonia Steed, recalled how Mr. Quinn actively sought travel and study grants for students and went out of his way to help them find academic positions and summer jobs.

And on a day-to-day basis he was always there to lend a book from his extensive personal library of plays and history texts and to engage in searching chats about modern drama.

"I'm also hearing from students he had in Iowa and New York, and many say he's the best teacher they ever had," Diane Quinn said. "I think his most frequent advice to his students was to choose their area of work based on what their own values were, on what they loved, not on what was salable or trendy."

While undergoing experimental cancer treatment, Mr. Quinn continued to confer with students by telephone and to talk with his wife about the meaning of his own research.

"He said he was interested in Havel because Havel's writing is about hope," his wife said. "With everything he was going through, Michael felt he knew a lot about hope."

Mr. Quinn's book on Havel, "Vaclav Havel and the Drama of Identity," probably will be completed by colleagues, his wife said.

Mr. Quinn also is the author of the forthcoming book "The Semiotic Stage: Prague School of Theater Theory" and co-editor with John Wolcott of "Staging Diversity."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Quinn is survived by his father and stepmother, Richard and Dian Quinn of Billings, Mo.; his mother and stepfather, Sondra and L.C. Nelson of Fairway, Kan.; his sister, Laura Quinn of Rochester, N.Y.; brother, Shannon Quinn of St. Joseph, Mo.; and his in-laws, John and Lois Palmisano of Springfield, Mo.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, adjacent to Butterworth Funeral Home, 520 W. Raye on Queen Anne Hill. A memorial service will be held at the UW School of Drama in early October.