Gail George, who lent her talent and creative energy to a number of arts, cultural and celebratory events on campus, died Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, of metastatic breast cancer at the Hospice Inn of St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. She was the wife of Carl George, professor emeritus of biology. She was 74.
She was a co-founder in 1997 — with Professor Twitty Styles; his wife, Dr. Constance Glasgow; and her husband, Carl — of UNITAS, a foundation fostering diversity and community at Union.
A festival of departure will be held in the Emerson Auditorium, Taylor Music Center, on Sunday, February 17, 3 – 5 p.m. Friends are invited to attend, to share their artistic talents and to bring flowers or fruits to be blessed, in the Balinese tradition, and then returned to their homes.
Gail embraced acting, playwriting, sacred dance, and the production and direction of theatrical events. She danced with The Movement, Sound and Light Concert Company of Dover, Mass.; and with the company of choreographer Lynn Barr in Urbino, Italy. She conceived and performed Rite of the Matriarchs at six universities and two national conferences; and directed and performed in the Passions of the Soul Company. She was engaged in numerous international conferences accenting the role of women in theater, which led to hosting Balinese artists at Union and elsewhere. With Helen Quirini, she wrote and choreographed Helen and Jack, a one-woman show presented to many audiences to foster improved benefits for GE retirees.
She completed her undergraduate study, with full scholarship, at Hollins College in Roanoke, Va., in 1955. She studied at Harvard Divinity School from 1956 to 1958 under theologian Paul Tillich, an experience that paved the way for her first teaching position in philosophy, drama and dance at the American Kiz Koleji in Ismir, Turkey. After three years in Ismir, she moved to Beirut, Lebanon, and became an instructor at the American University of Beirut and completed her master’s degree on the theology of Tillich. At AUB, she also garnered the rapt attention of the fellow teacher who would become her husband and world travel partner.
The couple moved to Schenectady in 1967, when Carl joined the faculty at Union and Gail taught philosophy and dance at Russell Sage College in Albany. Her interest in dance led to the position as dance therapist at the Capital District Psychiatric Center from 1975 to 1979, and prepared her for independent psychiatric practice with specialization in dance therapy and eating disorders.
She traveled to India and Nepal in 2000, hiking the high Himalayas with Anna Bess Sorin, one of Carl’s students. Her penultimate trip was to the House of John of God near Brazilia, Brazil, in January of 2008. In total, her wanderlust led her and Carl, her husband of 46 years, to more than 40 countries.
Survivors include her brother, James E. Wood Jr. and his wife, Nancy, of San Antonio, Texas.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Gail George World Music and Dance Fund at Union’s Department of Music or the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Co., P.O. Box 775, Troy, N.Y. 12181.