Biographical note
Elmer Milton Blistein (1920-1993) graduated from Brown in 1942 and received a doctorate from the university in 1953. Starting as an instructor in 1946, he taught English at Brown until his retirement in 1985. Professor Blistein taught, researched, and wrote books about comedy, Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama. He was a member of a cabal that created Professor Josiah Carberry, a fictitious Brown faculty member who traveled widely to attend scholarly functions without ever managing to show up for them.