David Janes Lyttle, professor emeritus of American literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, passed away in November at the age of 98. Born in Brooklyn, Lyttle grew up in Chicago before attending Earlham College in Indiana. He earned an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (State College).
Lyttle was the second generation in his family to teach at Syracuse University, as his mother, Marcia Taft Janes, taught at the School of Art in the early 1900s. Lyttle taught courses in 19th-century American literature in the Department of English. According to his obituary, he published extensively on Emerson, Thoreau and Jonathan Edwards, and was author of four books of poetry.
He is survived by his brother, Bradford; his children Diana and Christopher; his grandchildren: Zachary, Maxwell, Justin Wright, and Evan Wright; and his great grandson Jace David Lyttle.