The goal of this book is to prove that Latin is not a dead language by demonstrating how prevalent and strong it still is in modern Western culture. In order to do so, the author, an English philologist with a long experience as a Latin educator, catalogues, explains and interprets Latin quotations and references in a multitude of twentieth- and twenty-first-century literary works by-primarily-mainstream authors (from Aldous Huxley to Saul Bellow to John Irving), crime/mystery writers (from Raymond Chandler to Elizabeth George to Dennis Lehane) and frontier/western novelists (from Emerson Hough to Larry McMurtry). The three areas of fiction constituting the main scope of the book indicate the author's major interest and preference, as well as the subject matter of his extensive research, both prior and current-the former related to his already published books.
The writers offering the most impressive contributions to the thesis are featured in the three parts of the main body; those with lesser input are listed in the Appendix. The prospective readers of the book include all Latin students and educators at the secondary and college levels worldwide.
Hoffmann, Henryk: - Henryk Hoffmann was born, raised and educated in Poznań, Poland. Upon his graduation from Adam Mickiewicz University with an MA degree in English Philology, he worked as an English teacher, translator and interpreter in several institutions, including his alma mater, the Polish Academy of Sciences and his self-owned firm. Since his immigration to the USA in 1992, he has taught Latin, German, English and History, first in North Carolina and then in Pennsylvania. He is the author of six reference books-"A" Western Filmmakers: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, Composers, Actors and Actresses (McFarland, 2000, 2008), Western Film Highlights: The Best of the West, 1914-2001 (McFarland, 2003, 2009), Leksykon gwiazd kina amerykańskiego (A Biographical Dictionary of American Movie Stars, Agencja Producentów Filmowych, Warsaw, 2006; written in Polish in collaboration with his daughters, Beata and Katarzyna), Western Movie References in American Literature (McFarland, 2012), Four Hollywood Legends in World Literature: References to Bogart, Cooper, Gable and Tracy (BearManor Media, 2016) and The Careers of Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas as Referenced in Literature: A Study in Film Perception (Vernon Press, 2020); and one memoir, Ironies, Coincidences and Absurdities in My Ordinary Life on Both Sides of the Atlantic (Higher Ground Books & Media, 2019). His professional honors include the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition (2000) for his first book, a two-time inclusion in Who's Who Among America's Teachers (Educational Communications, 2002 and 2005), an entry in Contemporary Authors (Thomson Gale, 2005) and an Honorary Diploma from the Polish Federation of Film Societies (on its 50th Anniversary, 2006). Henryk (also known as Henry) and his wife Betsy live in Lititz, PA.
