What Are Garter and Lyon Up to Now?

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Brian Abel Ragen, PhD

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Cocktails ~ 12:30   Lunch ~ 1:00
Program & speaker to follow

$35 per member ~ $40 per guest
Cash Bar  Guests welcome

Brian Abel Ragen is Emeritus Professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he taught for two decades. He is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California, and holds a Ph.D from Princeton University. He was editor of the scholarly journal Paper on Language on Literature and is the author of bonks on Flannery O'Connor and Tom Wolfe, as well as articles on subjects that range from biblical allusions in Chaucer to the revision of traditional hymns in modern hymnals. His interests in heraldry and chivalry are both scholarly and professional. The journal Semiotics published a major article on heraldry by Ragen, and he won the American Heraldry's Society's award for the best heraldic design of 2009. He is a Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of St.John and has been granted arms by the College of Arms.

Professor Ragen's illustrated talk will discuss contemporary heraldry in the English-Speaking world. While come might think that coats or arms are relics of the Middle ages, the truth is that heraldry is still a lively art. Her Majesty's heralds in England, Scotland and Canada are still designing and granting arms - as are heralds in the Irish Republic and the Republic of South Africa. The presentation will explore the work of those heralds and some of their recent grants, including arms granted Baroness Thatcher, Colin Powell, Paul McCartney and other figures from the musical world, and even some St. Louisans.  

 

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