"Phyllis Loves Kelly" - Six Decades of Valentine's Day Poetry Documents One U of T Couple's Enduring Love

TORONTO – For sixty years, Phyllis Gotlieb, a celebrated poet, author and University of Toronto graduate, penned heartfelt verses for her husband, Kelly, a distinguished Professor Emeritus in Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Together with Professor Gotlieb, the University of Toronto Libraries has compiled these works into one book, “Phyllis Loves Kelly,” an endearing snapshot of Phyllis and Kelly’s 60 year marriage.

The book’s publication was coordinated by Ian Lancashire, Professor of English at the University of Toronto, who says, “If you want to laugh and cry about married love, this is the book.”

The book is freely available online through the University of Toronto Libraries’ website and printed copies are available for order via the University of Toronto Bookstore’s print on demand service.

Widely regarded as the "father of computing in Canada", Professor Gotlieb, now in his 90s, played a pivotal role in the creation of an early standard for storing bibliographic data at the University of Toronto Libraries, leading to the first computer generated catalog in any library. The standard he designed was adopted by the Library of Congress when it digitized its catalogue in the early 1960s, laying the foundation for the MARC standard for library catalogue records in international use since that time. Gotlieb’s many other accomplishments include initiation of the world's first long-distance use of an electronic computer using telegraph lines between the University of Saskatchewan and the FERUT computer at the University of Toronto in 1955.

For more information, please contact:

Margaret Wall | Communications Librarian | University of Toronto Libraries | margaret.wall@utoronto.ca | 416-978-1757

Lisa Gayhart | Digital Communications Services Librarian, ITS | University of Toronto Libraries | lisa.gayhart@utoronto.ca | 416-946-0959