English professor dies unexpectedly

University News and Notes
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Sad news…

[QUOTE]
Blair Rudes, associate professor of English, died unexpectedly on Sunday, March 16, after spending the afternoon exercising. An internationally known linguist and expert in American Indian languages, Rudes came to UNC Charlotte as an assistant
professor in 1999 and was promoted to associate professor in 2005.

During his University career, Rudes became famous as a “Hollywood linguist.” He worked as a consultant and dialect coach for the film “The New World,” which deals with the founding of Jamestown and the interaction between the native people and the English settlers. Rudes drew on his expertise in the history of American Indian languages to revive the Virginia Algonquian language.

Rudes was the recipient of several important honors. In 2006, the Tuscarora Indian Nation honored him for his contributions to preserving the Tuscarora language. In 2007, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a bill honoring Rudes for his contribution to the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs. Most recently, the State University of New York at Buffalo (where Rudes received his Ph.D. in 1976) gave him its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

[/QUOTE]

http://www.publicrelations.uncc.edu/resources/pdfs/newsletter/03.19.08.pdf

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[URL]http://media.www.nineronline.com/media/storage/paper971/news/2008/03/24/News/Remembering.Dr.Rudes-3280853.shtml[/URL]

A little bit more about Dr. Rudes

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Had a couple of classes with him. He definitely was a good prof… he really knew his stuff.

4

Sad - prayers for his family.

These are the kinds of guys I like to hear working here though - distinguished.

5

Exercising? That’s the same way the Wake coach went.
That doesn’t motivate people to get healthier. That makes people say the hell w/ it.
It does suck for his family. I had someone almost die this week.

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Exercising? That's the same way the Wake coach went.
That's the first thing that popped into my head along with the prayers to the family.

Does anyone know if he was heavy set. I am really anxious to know the cause of this. Is it that he over did it exercising? What was the final results on Wake’s coach? Honestly, I do work out and run, and ever since Skip P., I have always had that in my mind while running and my chest starts to hurt. Could be genetic maybe, idk.

But my thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and students.