Warner J. Barnes

Warner Jenkins Barnes, a beloved English professor at The University of Texas at Austin, died July 28 at the age of 91.

He was born in Waco in 1934, to parents Dr. Maurice C. Barnes and Lavonia “Bobbie” Barnes. He attended Sanger Elementary School while living on Gorman Avenue and then, Robin Road. He often told his children he could ride a bus downtown and get a ticket to a movie, all for one dime. He also loved to share the jokes he heard in the hallways from the future Gov. Ann Richards, also a student there.

Warner was very proud of his Waco lineage. His father, Dr. Maurice Barnes, was a longtime Waco dermatologist, who made significant contributions to preventing and curing skin cancer. His mother was considered Waco’s “first lady of historic preservation,” restoring many of the city’s antebellum homes and reviving the legacy of the original 1894 Texas Cotton Palace.

But most of Warner’s years were spent outside of Waco, most notably as a professor emeritus, who was cherished by thousands of students over the course of three decades teaching English literature, Southern literature and freshman composition. He said composition was one of the most important skills he could teach and extended his office hours each week so students could come in for advising. But it was his love of the classics that led to his class, Great Books - a course he created and taught for 30 years. He especially loved teaching Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and never grew tired of the spirited discussions with his students about the entirety of the human experience as told though a whaling journey.

He was voted best English professor more than a dozen times over his career and maintained many faculty sponsorships and mentoring positions at Kinsolving Hall, Young Americans for Freedom and the Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity.

His love of literature began at Andover, a private boarding school in Andover, Mass, followed by four years at Harvard University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1957. He considered Harvard one of his happiest experiences where academics were often eclipsed by his antics with his roommates at Eliot House, the D.U. Cub, a historical final club, and Hasty Pudding Club, which included the university’s student-run theater company.

After his Harvard graduation, he married Adrienne “Missy” Monnig, a fellow Wacoan, and began working on his PhD at The University of Texas at Austin. During this time, he and his wife had three children: Bruce Barnes (1959); Brooks Barnes (1961); and Sarah Barnes (1963).

After graduation, he took his family to the Midwest to begin his teaching career at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. While at Iowa, he received the National Endowment for the Humanities award and started the literary publication “Books at Iowa.” Although Iowa was fulfilling, he brought his family back after the fourth winter to The University of Texas at Austin. He and his family then settled permanently, save one year in 1975 when he taught Southern literature at the University of Leeds, in Yorkshire, England. During this year, his daughter attended The Leeds Girls’ High School and his sons went to Eton College, a school founded by King Henry VI in 1440. His sons still consider this year a defining moment in their lives, for better or worse.

During his career, Warner completed A Bibliography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which was considered the definitive bibliography of everything the author wrote. He also had a lifelong interest in rare books and pioneered a way to authenticate centuries-old books by studying their watermarks through isotopes and special medical film.

His unique study of bibliography combined with his many teaching awards brought him his proudest achievement, the 1994 Pro Bene Meritus Award, the highest honor given by UT’s College of Liberal Arts. It is awarded to individuals who have sought to “heighten public awareness of the critical role played by the liberal arts in education and society today.”

Though it is never mentioned in any of his academic achievements, Warner found great pleasure hosting dinner parties with friends and had many student gatherings in his home. Perhaps the most memorable party in UT history was a cocktail party gone rogue when some of the professors - fully clothed – jumped into his backyard pool leaving graduate either amused or horrified. Warner’s beloved Brittany spaniel, Rowley, impressed the revelers by diving to the bottom of the pool to fetch rocks pitched in by the guests. The party was talked about for years.

Books were certainly Warner’s passion, but he also found deep love in his trips with his family, many of them driving vacations to see this country’s natural wonders and landmarks including Grand Teton National Park and Yosemite National Park. He also took his family and a Siamese cat on a devil-may-care jaunt from Iowa to the Statue of Liberty. But the place where he found true solace was the Texas coast with his father, Maurice Barnes, and his three children at his side fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

In his last years, Warner still had chats with his Harvard roommate who shared a love of literature. They reread all of Hemingway’s novels discussing them over the phone as it if was their first interpretation.

He is survived by his children: Bruce Barnes and wife, Carrie Austin, of Stevens Point, WI; Brooks Barnes of Austin; Sarah Barnes and husband, Jim Hemphill, of Austin; and his grandchildren, Alexandra Barnes, Annie Barnes, Benjamin Barnes, Caroline Hemphill and Meredith Hemphill. He was pre-deceased by his second wife, Gillian Adams of Williamstown, Mass and Campobello Island, New Brunswick. He is survived by his children, grandchildren and first wife, Adrienne Monnig Watt.

The family would like to thank Yoel T. Hinds and the staff of Vista Ridge Senior Care Lakeway, (formerly Brookdale), for their compassion and love of Warner’s book collection referring to him as “the professor.”

The family suggests donations to hospiceaustin.org, or Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church at saintpaulswaco.org

We invite you to leave a message or memory of Warner in his “Memorial Guestbook” at www.WHBfamily.com.