Remembering a respected and passionate teacher and colleague
Colleagues and students were saddened to learn that Anthony (Tony) Sisti, a respected and admired teacher and valued colleague in the Department of English, died on August 17. A gifted, inspiring and exacting teacher, his students frequently registered for one course but continued with him for several. They were confident in his ability to communicate enthusiasm and scholarly rigour, and he demonstrated that books read for pleasure could be discussed in intellectually challenging and rewarding ways.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and an MA in English at McGill, Sisti began teaching at the Loyola Campus in 1976. He joined the fully merged Department of English in 1979. As one of the core instructors in the Composition program, he was an active participant in the university writing test. While he continued to teach composition and professional writing, his interests led him to teach literature courses, most recently, science fiction and the graphic novel.
The shifting focus of his teaching reflected a lively and curious mind. As soon as he became aware of graphic novels as a form, he set out to learn all he could about them — and in doing so, he amassed a substantial collection.
On literature and many other subjects, his conversation covered what he had read and what he knew, and very little escaped his interest. He shared the scope and depth of his knowledge with all of his students, even if they were not English majors, and served as a role model to many students. He set high standards for his students in reading, writing and thinking, which gave his courses a reputation of being difficult; however, with his students and his colleagues, he shared an incisive intellect and expectation of high standards with generosity and his customary affability.
A man who valued his privacy, Sisti nevertheless betrayed some of his passions outside the classroom: he was a keen tennis player, collected books of all kinds on all subjects, and drove a fabled vintage white Cadillac convertible.
Concordia colleague John McAuley, who knew him the longest, adds another dimension to Sisti’s life and personality: “Tony Sisti first crossed my path in 1972 when we were working with disadvantaged children in Saint-Henri and surrounding areas in youth programs. We were students offering the out-of-school kids planned activities and contact with others their own age in outside communities. Tony was a youth leader, serious, quiet and obviously a take-charge individual, mature for his 20 years. After that summer, we went our separate ways, yet years later when composition instructors of the Department of English, from both campuses, met together for the first time in about 1980, Tony reappeared. And now he is gone.”