Ronald Murray Meldrum, 86, passed away July 18, 2013. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 30 at the Unitarian Church in Moscow, ID, 420 E. Second St. Ronald graduated from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) with bachelor's degrees in both English and zoology in 1949. Subsequently, he earned his master's degree in English from the University of Washington, and he was the first person awarded a Ph.D. in English from ASU. He taught at many universities: University of Washington, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Redlands, University of California-Riverside, ASU, and faculty exchanges at the University of Connecticut and Alaska Methodist University. Ronald joined the Washington State University faculty in 1965, retiring in 1992. On his first sabbatical leave in 1971 in Copenhagen, he discovered the correspondence of James I of England and Christian IV of Denmark, which he had translated and published. He was a founding member and past president of the Western British Studies Conference, past president of the Western Renaissance Conference, and director of the Institute of Renaissance Studies of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, summer of 1972. Ever a scholar, he explored many subjects in depth and taught a wide variety of courses, the most popular being Shakespeare and the Bible as literature. Ronald is survived by his wife, Barbara, two daughters, a sister and three grandchildren. The family requests that memorial donations be directed to the Latah County Library; the Washington-Idaho Symphony; or Gentiva Hospice in Pullman.