UNLV professor, linguist Clark dies

Monday, March 9, 1998 | 10:38 a.m.

A memorial service for UNLV English professor Thomas L. Clark, a linguistics expert who authored gambling lexicons, wrote more than two dozen language articles and lectured throughout the world, will be 7 p.m. today at UNLV's Ham Hall.

Clark, a Las Vegas resident of 28 years, died of complications from a bone marrow disorder Feb. 26. His family disclosed his death Friday.

Private services were held at St. Andrews Catholic Church in Boulder City. Nevada Funeral Service-Nevada Cremation or Burial Society handled the arrangements.

Clark wrote five books and was working on a sixth at the time of his death, his family said. His books include "The Dictionary of Gambling and Gaming" (Lexik House Publishers, 1987) and "Western Lore and Language: A Dictionary for Enthusiasts of the West" (University of Utah Press, 1996).

"He was a dedicated teacher," said Clark's daughter-in-law Kirsten Clark. "His students especially respected his course in the history of the English language."

Appointed Barrick research professor in 1990 -- one of the university's highest honors -- Clark taught in UNLV classrooms until just days before he died. In addition to his lexicons (specialized dictionaries), Clark was interested in studies involving jokes, names, rhetorical patterns in popular speech and dialects.

He was host of "UNLV Focus" a program on UNLV news and events that aired on six local radio stations. In the mid-1980s, Clark presented a series of five-minute programs on the English language for KNPR public radio, including "The Pronunciation of Nevada," which aired March 16, 1984.

Clark's published articles included "Cheating Terms in Cards and Dice" for American Speech (1986) and "Gambling Language and Nevada Law" for History and Humanities (1989).

His many lectures included "Johns, Marks and Pigeons: The Lexicon of Cheating" at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association in Phoenix in October 1983 and "Nicknames, Monikers and Names in Gambling Terms" at the American Name Society in New York that December.

Born July 10, 1939, in Havre, Mont., Clark graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 1964. He earned his master's degree there in 1966 and his doctorate's degree at Ohio University in 1970, the year he came to Las Vegas.

Clark participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar on World Literature at UNLV and at similar events throughout the country.

He lectured at the American Cultural Center in Jerusalem, at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, and in London for UNLV's International Studies Program.

Clark did consultation work for area law firms and testified as an expert witness on semantic analysis of language in contracts, patents, statutes and gaming regulations as well as in libel cases.

He won the Morris Award for Excellence in Research from the College of Arts and Letters in 1987.

Clark served on the Executive Board of the American Council of Learned Societies and was president of the American Dialect Society from 1985-87.

He was a member of the Nevada State Board on Geographic Names since 1985 and was director of the Nevada Language Survey since 1972.

Other books Clark authored or co-authored were "Language: Structure and Use" (Foresman and Co., 1981), "Handbook of Short Courses in Dialect Studies for K-12 Teachers" (National Council of Teachers of English, 1974) and "Marietta, Ohio: The Continuing Erosion of a Speech Island" (University of Alabama Press, 1972).

Clark is survived by his wife, Jeanne Clark of Las Vegas; a son, Tim Clark of Las Vegas; two daughters, Helen-Margaret Shelton of Las Vegas and Kristin Venuti of Saratoga, Calif.; three brothers, Daniel Clark and Robert Clark, both of Spokane, Wash., and William Clark of Carlin; a sister Nancy Monteith of Spokane; and four grandchildren.

DONATIONS: Through the UNLV Foundation to the Thomas L. Clark Memorial Library Fund.