Blair A. Rudes

Blair A. Rudes was born on May 18, 1951, in Gloversville, New York. He said his mother was of Irish descent and his great-grandmother was Abenaki. He studied at Piseco Elementary School and Wells Central High School as a child, before going on to the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he obtained a doctorate in linguistics in 1976. == Career ==

Rudes became an assistant professor of English at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte in 1999 and was promoted to an associate professor in 2005. His contributions to the film attracted widescale publicity, including a feature story in the Science Section of the New York Times. At Rude's request, the movie studio made his work available to Algonquian tribes located in Virginia so that members could relearn their ancestral language. His work additionally helped dispel a longstanding belief that the term "Chesapeake" meant "Great Shellfish Bay" in Powhatan. Rudes discovered that in actuality, it probably means "Great Water". Impressed by Rudes' work on The New World, director Carter Smith hired him as the Mayan Dialogue Coach for The Ruins. ==Personal life==

Dr. Rudes was a polyglot, among the languages he could speak were French, German, Irish Gaelic, Italian, Russian, and Tuscarora. He was a gay man and was predeceased by his companion, Philip Hunt. He had two dogs, Heidi and Ben. == Death ==

Rudes died of a heart attack on March 16, 2008, after working out at a gym in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time of his death, he was working on a three volume work titled "The Catawba Language" for the University of South Carolina Press. ==Awards==

Dr. Rudes was the recipient of several honors. In 2006 he was recognized by the Tuscorora Indian Nation for his contributions to preserving their language and in 2007, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the work he had done for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs. On April 5, 2008, he was posthumously awarded the University at Buffalo’s Distinguished Alumni Award. ==Selected bibliography==

• Tuscarora-English / English-Tuscarora Dictionary, 1999 • Endangered Languages and Literacy: Proceedings of the Fourth FEl Conference, Nicholas Ostler (editor), Blair A. Rudes (editor), Foundation for Endangered Languages, 2000 ==References==