Beth Lau

Beth Lau was born December 16, 1951, in Milwaukee, WI, to Milford and Janet (Towse) Lau. She died of metastatic cancer on November 2, 2022, in Bloomington, IN. Survivors include her husband Roger Young; siblings R. Jane Lau, James Lau, and Patricia Doolas (Alex); sisters-in-law Carolyn Young (Richard Gerber) and Elizabeth Young; and nieces Laura Emery and Kate Emery. As a child Beth loved climbing trees, roaming in fields, and reading. After a time as a Beatlemaniac, in high school she became a serious reader of books self-selected from the shelves of the public library. She read Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Marcel Proust and other authors of what she called “great” and her mother called “morbid” books. Beth graduated from Glenbard West High School near Chicago and attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an English major. The counterculture was in full-swing, and Beth consorted with “hippies,” attended rock concerts, protested the Vietnam War, and engaged in other activities typical of the era. In her junior year she became more focused on her English courses. She met and married Martin Camargo; the marriage eventually ended in divorce. Beth earned a Ph.D. at University of Illinois, where her mentor was the noted John Keats scholar Jack Stillinger, with whom she remained in contact to the end of his life. Beth taught at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and at Ripon College in Wisconsin prior to becoming a professor at California State University, Long Beach, where she taught for twenty-two years. She enjoyed her students and was always an active scholar in her field. She wrote seven books, the most recent published in 2022, and over forty-four journal articles, mostly on John Keats and Jane Austen. She also wrote book reviews and presented papers at professional conferences, many in England, where she loved to visit. In 2004 Beth met Roger Young, the brother of a friend and colleague at Long Beach. In 2011 they married and moved to Bloomington, where Beth continued her research and writing. In addition, she volunteered at the Monroe County History Center; developed friendships with Bonnie Houff, Martha Wainscott, and others; adopted her beloved dog Jerry from the Bedford Animal Shelter; and took pastel classes at the Southside Art League in Greenwood. She enjoyed the varied seasons and deciduous trees and was glad to be in closer proximity to her sisters and brother. In 2015, Beth was diagnosed with cancer. Her oncologist, Dr. Jennifer K. Morgan, skillfully supervised her care for seven years, which enabled Beth to live a full life in that time. She also participated in two clinical drug trials under the care of Dr. Bryan Schneider at the Simon Cancer Center. Indiana University Health Hospice provided comfort and support at the end of her life. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, people who wish to donate in Beth’s memory can contribute to the Nature Conservancy, the American Civil Liberties Union, or another organization that promotes nature, animals, women’s rights, or social justice. Allen Funeral Home and Crematory have been entrusted with arrangements. Online condolences, photos and memories may be shared with family and friends at www.allencares.com

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Beth Lau

December 16, 1951 - November 2, 2022