James Goodman

@goodman_dandc

Robert Panara, who was the first deaf faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Institute for the Deaf, knew no limits for what a deaf person could accomplish.

As a tribute to his achievements, Panara will be honored on a new U.S. postage stamp showing him signing the word "respect."

RIT is holding a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Panara, who died in 2014 at age 94, joined the NTID faculty in 1967 and for two decades was an inspirational and innovative educator, as he had been previously at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

"During his 40-year teaching career, Panara inspired generations of students with his powerful use of American Sign Language," said the Postal Service, in its November announcement that the new stamp featuring Panara will be part of the Distinguished Americans series.

The stamp was designed by Ethel Kessler, art director for the Postal Service, and based on an image taken by RIT/NTID photographer Mark Benjamin.

Panara's son, John, who is an English instructor at NTID, sent an email to the NTID community after the announcement saying that the "picture on the stamp is one that you certainly are familiar with, for it has been seen often around campus the last few years, in offices and on hallway walls."

Benjamin's photograph of his father signing the word "respect," John Panara added, is a "theme that will 'ring out loud and free' (to borrow a line from my dad's famous poem) every time the stamp is placed on an envelope!"

John Panara said that when he received an email a year ago telling him that the Postal Service's Stamp Advisory Committee had recommended the issuance of a stamp of his father, he read the email over and over again to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Harry Lang, a professor emeritus at NTID and author of Teaching from the Heart and Soul: The Robert F. Panara Story, posted on Facebook: "What a nice Thanksgiving present! Bob is certainly looking down with his famous smile right now."

Lang, who was an adviser to the Postal Service on the stamp, noted in the foreword to his biography that the senior Panara was a poet, author, lecturer and theater aficionado.

Panara, Lang wrote, was largely self-educated at a time accommodations were not available for deaf children.

"He was also among the first wave of deaf scholars in the twentieth century, and a pioneer in the field of Deaf Studies," Lang noted.

Panara's poem "On His Deafness," written in 1946, has been reprinted many times and won first prize in the World of Poetry contest in 1988. Lang, in his biography of Panara, said the poem is about "how deaf people can 'hear' with an 'inner ear' of imagination."

After Panara lost his hearing from spinal meningitis at the age of 10, his parents had a neighbor take him to a New York Yankees game in the hope that he would meet Babe Ruth — and the excitement might restore his hearing. Although Panara did meet Ruth, the thrill didn't restore his hearing.

Panara became so skilled at lip reading that in 1957 he played a key role in a journalistic feat by Life magazine — what has been called a royal scoop.

England's Queen Elizabeth made her first visit to the United States that year, and wanted to see an American football game — so she attended the match between Maryland and North Carolina at the University of Maryland at College Park.

The queen sat in a 50-yard-line box seat — far away from any reporters.

But the next issue of Life included a lot of comments that the queen had made during the game and did so using complete quotes.

As it turned out, Life had retained Panara, who was then teaching at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Unbeknown to the queen, Panara, with the help of a Gallaudet student who was also an accomplished lip reader, watched the queen's lips through high-powered binoculars from a scaffolding built 200 yards away.

Peter B. Taub, who was a columnist for the Gannett afternoon newspaper in Rochester, the Times-Union, later wrote: "As the queen spoke, they relayed her words to Life reporters sitting nearby who repeated everything for a tape recorder."

Panara both inspired and popularized deaf culture

Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, Panara became a voracious reader after he lost his hearing because he had no interpreters or note takers available to him. He didn't learn American Sign Language until after he had graduated high school and wanted to attend Gallaudet.

After graduating from Gallaudet in 1945, Panara taught at the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains. While teaching, Panara earned his master's in English from New York University.

In 1949, Panara joined the faculty at Gallaudet, where he taught English. In 1965, Panara served on an advisory board that led to the establishment of NTID at RIT. He joined the RIT faculty in 1967.

Panara helped create the curriculum and was instrumental in creating the English department, where he taught.

During the 1960s, Panara was a founder of the National Theatre of the Deaf, based in Connecticut. He taught workshops there during the summer. The group's performances popularized American Sign Language.

He also founded the Drama Club and was known for his courses on Shakespeare, and deaf characters in fiction and drama that brought literature and poetry to life. When Panara retired, NTID named its performing arts theater in his honor.

Panara wrote a collection of poems, On His Deafness and Other Melodies Unheard, and co-authored Great Deaf Americans.

In a tribute to Panara upon his death two years ago, Gallaudet said that as a student there he wrote several papers about deaf education that said teaching "comes from the heart and soul."

Panara's broad interests included a fondness for the Rochester Red Wings.

Lang noted that he and Panara averaged about 30 baseball games each summer.

"When Bob passed, there was a moment of silence at Frontier Field for him," said Lang.

Lang, who worked with Panara at NTID, often saw him inspire students by telling them to "do something with their life that will be rewarding and satisfying."

In RIT's statement announcing Panara will be on a stamp, Gerard J. Buckley, NTID president and RIT vice president and dean, said, "RIT/NTID and the entire Deaf community is justifiably proud that Bob is being honored in such a meaningful way."

JGOODMAN@Gannett com