David Harris Russell

David Russell was a prolific writer whose audience ranged from young children to college professors. He was senior author of one of the most widely used basal reading series. His writings in the field of education and psychology include teaching guides, essays on educational problems, college textbooks, yearbook contributions, research articles and monographs, reviews for encyclopedias, and diverse leaflets and pamphlets on curriculum development and instruction. Among his widely read books and monographs are Children Learn to Read, Children's Thinking, Characteristics of Good and Poor Spellers, Reading Aids Through the Grades (with Elizabeth Karp), and Listening Aids Through the Grades (with Elizabeth Russell). At the time of his death he was preparing a manuscript on creative reading. Professor Russell brought to his work a unique background of preparation in mathematics, literature, education, and psychology. This background, coupled with his keen interest in improving instruction in the schools enabled him to write and speak as a critic, a reviewer, an essayist, an experimenter, an innovator, and an evaluator. His writings and addresses had a creative flair and a style that were inimitable. His stories for children included new ideas along with old ideas treated in new ways. His research publications were a distinctive combination of new hypotheses and a reformulation of old hypotheses. -