NIU lost a “respected scholar” Sunday afternoon in an accident at Devil’s Lake State Park.

George C. Carrington, Jr., an NIU English professor, died of massive head and chest injuries as the result of a fall while hiking along a climber’s trail. According to a Chicago Tribune report, “one of his handholds loosened a large rock and he fell 125 feet.”

An Emergency Medical Technician who was with the group performed CPR in an attempt to revive Carrington, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

J.I. Miller, director of the English department’s undergraduate studies, described Carrington as a “well-established scholar and an honest colleague who was plain-spoken and committed to high principles.”

Carrington was the author of several books and literary articles. “Reviews (of his works) revealed a great deal of respect for his scholarly work,” Miller said.

“One review called (Carrington’s book) The Dramatic Unity of Huckleberry Finn ‘one of the best books on Huckleberry Finn in 10 years.'”

Professor James Mellard of the English department said he admired Carrington’s writing a great deal. “He was tremendously graceful and articulate in his writing,” Mellard said.

Carrington was a “bundle of contradictions,” Mellard said. “He was a big, physically-imposing man with incredible grace and style in his writing … he had a Fred Astaire-like quality to his writing … grace and finesse.”

“He was a gruff man but not stand-offish,” said one of Carrington’s former students, Bill McCoy. “He was set in his ideas but was always responsive to new ideas from his students.”

McCoy will speak and sing a solo during the memorial service for Carrington on Friday.

Carrington’s wife, Ildiko, described him as “a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and a delightful conversationalist.”

Carrington is survived by his wife, his son John and John’s infant daughter. A memorial service for Carrington will be held Friday at Carl Sandburg Auditorium at 11 a.m.