Dr. Ardavan Davaran teaching at NDNU
One of my favorite teachers, Ardavan Davaran, died this week.
I had seen him one day this year on my way to the grocery store, and I remember thinking I’d wave at him had he not been deeply engaged in conversation at the restaurant where he sat. Had I been him, I would have simply walked through the low bushes separating me from the restaurant window, and knocked with a big grin.
He was my first teacher in the M.A. program at NDNU, where I showed up completely unsure of my abilities. After all, I spoke English with an accent, the excuse I proffered when he asked me to read a poem in class. “I’m an English professor with an accent,” he told me. I read, and he congratulated me. Later, I wrote and he congratulated me. When I wrote for the magazine, The Bohemian, he said my story was fantastic. One night after class, I joined him at Ausiello’s, the local tavern across the train station, and made it a personal tradition to wait for my train there, reading or writing. I would go back home releasing the enthusiasm he had filled me with in his class.
Last night, I made my own memorial to Ardy in my apartment. I read out loud The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and The Lake Isle of Innisfree, two poems that delighted him. I imagined him sitting in the first row of my fictitious audience, turning to his neighbor with a grin, exclaiming, “fantastic!”
Then we’d proceed to the moveable feast.
Bibi Tiphane 
Hi Guy,
I am not sure if you remember me, but I believe we shared both a few classes and a trip to Ashland together, and of course with our beloved Ardy. Being slightly removed from the Bay Area at this time, I only learned of his passing this morning…. I am devastated and starved for news. I was so happy to come upon your posting and to share, if only for a few brief lines, the love and light he inspired in all that knew him… I cannot believe that he is gone. But I guess we will all survive him with the knowledge that he forever changed all who knew him and that he will forever be an inspiration for all in the little and big ways that he helped us begin our “literary lives” at NDNU… Anyway, thank you.
I was also a student of Ardy’s – I took his Shakespeare class, and traveled with him to Ashland. He will be greatly missed.
Hi All,
My name is Mandy. My memory from Ardy as you call him is way older than you,not to show off or anything. He was my professor in Teharan University, before that Cultural Revolution of course. I am in Canada now.
My image from him is a very modest professor.
Do you know the reason he passed? I don’t think he was that old.
Mandy:)
Hi Again,
I know that he passed of liver cancer.
Thank you.
Hi Guy,
Thanks for writing such a great tribute to Ardy. Your first paragraph really captures his spirit. I can just see him cutting through the bushes to come knock on the window and say hello. This is one of the qualities of his that I most admired and would most like to emulate–that warmth and ability to make friends with all those who crossed his path and to embrace all those around him with arms wide open.
Your old classmate in the M.A. program,
Anna Lustig
Hi.It was about 35 years ago at Tehran University the firs year of dear Ardi’s teaching there.I had the course”story writing” with him.He wanted me to perform the hemigway’s”Hills like white elephants”.that year on summer we went as a student tour to Europe which Ardi was the leader.this 40days tour caused a deep friendship between us. at 1979 I was again his student for post graduate in comparative literature His was a lovly teacher and freind.His student never forget him .
mohammad tamaddon
Iran Tehran
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I did not know Ardy from the intellectual community that he obviously had commanded such a great respect and adoration. My time spent with Ardy was very brief and as a fond acquaintance of the establishment I manage in the Rockridge district in Oakland. Ardy and Roya would stop in on occasion and each and every time he would be so grateful and appreciative of our visits and contact. He truly enjoyed life and all people that he came in contact with. I have been in the hospitality industry for over 30 years and I have yet to meet a more genuine, kind, appreciative, and glad individual as Ardavan. He is a gentlemans gentleman and will be missed immensely. Each time I think of Ardy all I see is his warm smile and welcoming demeanor. Cheers Ardy. You are one of a kind.
I was so saddened to hear of Ardy’s passing, and doubly sad that I have so much lost touch with my NDNU colleagues that it took a year and a half for me to even find out. I could add to the stories about Ardy and his warmth and willingness to support all his students, but the best tribute I could make for Ardy would be this: after finishing the program at NDNU I got a job as a professor of English at a community college in southern California. My classes are organized very much like Ardy organized his; that is to say, interestingly disorganized, and I will often be teaching a literature class and hear Ardy’s words coming out of my mouth. He lives on!
Steve Acree