January 25, 2013
SOMC's Dr. Thomas Khoury has established an endowed scholarship fund for student poets at Shawnee State University to honor his late uncle, Dr. James Barbar, an educator, poet and lawyer.
Barbar was an English and history professor in Virginia, West Virginia, Florida and Massachusetts. He also practiced law and he was an avid tennis player.
Poetry was Barbar's passion and all of his poems were hand written. Khoury found poems written on boxes of tissues and scraps of paper.
Barbar was born in Boston, Mass. to Lebanese immigrants on March 21, 1924 and he died August 18, 2010 in Boston. The Barbars had no children and Khoury was like a son.
A plaque placed in Clark Memorial Library was dedicated for the Honors Poetry Scholarship on Thursday, Jan. 17.
"Poetry is undervalued as an art and Shawnee is the heart of the community," Khoury said.