Stephanie Vaughn

Stephanie Vaughn, a fiction writer and professor of English at Cornell University, died November 12 at Cayuga Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Ithaca. She was 81 and had taught at Cornell for 39 years before her retirement in 2022.

Her collection of short stories — titled "Sweet Talk" in the United States and "Able Baker Charlie Dog" in the UK — was published in 1990 to enthusiastic reviews. The New York Times praised her ability to see both the funny and sad aspects of human complications, calling her writing "pure and elegiac, as though it were piped in directly from the soul." The book has been reissued several times over the years, and royalty checks still trickle in steadily, as do online posts from new fans discovering her work.

Stephanie was born in Millersburg, Ohio, on December 15, 1943. As the daughter of a career Army officer, she grew up all over the world: Oklahoma, Texas, the Philippines, New York City, and Tirrenia, Italy.

She earned her BA and MA degrees at Ohio State University and her MFA at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She went on to Stanford where she held a Stegner Fellowship and then a Jones Lectureship, and where she met her husband, Michael Koch, also a Stegner Fellow, who came to Cornell with her in 1983.

Stephanie was famous for telling her undergraduate students, "To be a writer, you need to be an interesting person. To be an interesting person, you need to be an interested person." She herself was interested in and supportive of her students and always delighted by their successes, inviting many to give readings at Cornell as published authors.

In addition to teaching creative writing and literature, Stephanie was a co-director, with Michael and with Stan Taft of the art department, of the four-week summer course "Imagining Rome," which took students to Cornell's teaching facility in Rome for intensive writing and art studies. She loved introducing her students to the city, which she and Michael returned to, without students in tow, almost every year.

A lifetime football fan, Stephanie was a loyal and knowledgable follower of Ohio State's Buckeyes and the Cleveland Browns. When she joined forces with Michael, she added the Philadelphia Eagles to her roster of favorites; she was debating the "tush push" with friends just weeks before her death.In her last football season, she was elated to see the Buckeyes win the national championship and the Eagles win the Super Bowl. She loved football, and football, that final season, loved her back.

To watch football with Stephanie in her kitchen often felt like sitting in a tiny chapel. Talking was allowed only during commercials, and criticism of the Buckeyes, or the state of Ohio, for that matter, was unacceptable. Stephanie usually stood behind her chair, watching the game and making sure her guests had snacks and drinks. Her generosity to her friends was as deep as the loam in Ohio.

Stephanie was predeceased by her husband; her parents, Marguerite Rogers Vaughn and Lt. Col. (ret.) Francis M. Vaughn; and her brother, John. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Vaughn (Dennis Hahn), and sister-in-law Mary Dehnbostel-Vaughn. Also surviving her are brothers-in-law Stephen Koch (Katie), Gerard Koch (Joy), Mark Koch (Anne), and sisters-in-law Mary Jo Koch Hartz (Rich) and Sandra Koch.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Epoch, the Cornell literary magazine. Please make checks payable to “Cornell University” and identify Epoch on the memo line. Mail to Department of Literatures in English, 250 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853.

Visiting hours are 2 to 4 pm on Monday, Nov. 17, at Bangs Funeral Home. Burial will be private. A memorial service will be announced later. Online condolences may be made to www.bangsfuneralhome.com.