In Memoriam: Mark Lester

A Scholar of the ‘Structure and Rhythm’ of Language

Mark Lester, an EWU emeritus professor who previously served as chair of Eastern’s Department of English, died on Aug. 22, 2025. He was 90 years old.

During Lester’s long career in academe, he gained prominence as a textbook author, educator and administrator— achievements that each sprung from his passion for helping others understand the structure and rhythm of the English language.

Lester’s lifelong love of learning began at Pomona College in Clairmont, California, where he studied philosophy and English literature. While still an undergraduate, he published an article in Ideas, a philosophy journal published by students at Yale University. He went on to earn a doctorate in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lester’s first English faculty position was at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he helped to found the university’s English as a Second Language program (now regarded as one of the top programs in the country). He also served as an assistant director at Hawaii’s East-West Center’s Culture Learning Institute. Lester joined the EWU English faculty in 1982, where he authored textbooks, taught, mentored students and eventually served as department head. Among his most influential publications was Grammar and Usage in the Classroom, a guide for teachers of English that was widely used throughout the nation. He retired as a professor emeritus in 1999.

Lester was always deeply engaged in civic life, both in Hawaii and in Spokane. He also loved to cook, hike, jog (especially in Hawaii), and travel internationally with his wife of 68 years, Mary Ann Zappas Lester.

A celebration of Lester’s life will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m., in the Event Center at Rockwood Retirement Community’s South Hill Campus, 2903 E. Rockhurst Lane, Spokane.

— Information for this remembrance of Professor Emeritus Mark Lester was provided courtesy of Kevin Decker, professor of philosophy at EWU, and a family obituary published by The Spokesman-Review on Sep. 7, 2025.