In Memoriam

Amy Ann High

The Washington area classical community mourns the death of Amy Ann High of Alexandria, Virginia, on September 27, 2003, at the age of 39. A major presence on the lively northern Virginia Latin scene, Amy taught Latin at a number of local high schools, among them McLean, West Potomac, W.T. Woodson, and Paul VI.

Her elementary Latin program at Providence Elementary School in Fairfax County was featured in Time magazine and on the Oxygen cable television network. In addition to founding Lumina, a non-profit publishing company of Latin materials for young learners, she tutored countless area Latin students and recently launched her own preschool Latin program.

Many of us also remember Amy’s spirited performances as Julia Pauli, the interviewer in all 24 episodes of the Forum Romanum Latin television series, invariably concluding with the tag rursus ad te.

Amy received her BA degree from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., and earned her MA degree from the University of Virginia. Her legacy at Randolph-Macon burns bright. Paying tribute to Amy as a student, colleague, and friend, Daniel McCaffrey—one of her undergraduate professors—remarked “She gave Latin a life it hasn't had in hundreds of years.”

Amy was a member of the American Classical League and the Classical Association of Northern Virginia. She studied Latin in Rome with Father Reginald Foster for several summers, and was a strong proponent of spoken Latin.

The Amy High Latin Scholarship fund has been established in her memory to support aspiring and current Latin teachers to study with Father Foster in Rome.

Amy is survived by her husband Tim Gale; her young children, Maddy, Josh, and Phoebe; her parents Jim and Ann High; and her two brothers, Mike and Jim High.

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