From Dr Edward Coleman

I was greatly saddened to hear of Shona's recent death. It had the pleasure of meeting and talking with her at various medieval gatherings over the years (Kalamazoo, Leeds, Sararsota etc). She was an unfailingly companionable and lively presence: serious and erudite yet at the same time funny and irreverent. She will be very much missed.

From George Dameron

I feel privileged to have known Shona as a colleague and as a friend.  As a scholar, she was outstanding.  As a person, she was ever cheerful, funny, unpretentious, and so very generous with others.  Our paths crossed primarily at conferences, and I always looked forward whenever I saw her at a meeting to catching up with her on her work and to sharing meals with her, along with our other colleagues.  One memory of Shona that stands out for me is seeing her really enjoyng herself on the dance floor at Kalamazoo after a panel-packed day several years ago..  This is how I remember her:  an excellent historian and  a wonderful person. I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to her family.

From Lois Huneycutt

Memories of Shona

I regret to say that I honestly didn't know Shona very well at all, but it was impossible not to like Shona, even with a rather cursory professional acquaintance.  I always looked forward to seeing her at the annual meetings of the Mid America Medieval Association, where she always had kind words for my graduate students, particularly those whose work touched on topics near and dear to her heart. We had children of similar ages, and there was always a little catching up to do about what our respective children had done to drive us just a little crazier since we last met. Even though we were always lighthearted about sharing anecdotes, Shona's deep love for her children and her enjoyment of motherhood always came through.

I was privileged to be a referee (I guess I can let that out now!) for the University of Missouri Research Board grant she applied to before making her final trip to Italy.  I was stunned by the scope, significance, and sophistication of the project.  I knew Shona was good, but I had no idea she was really that good -- that book would have made an academic star out of her.  The most extensive time I spent with Shona was when we ran into each other at the American Historical Association conference in San Diego; I think it was in January 2010.  Missouri was covered in a record amount of snow, and both of us were giddy about being in the land of oceans and palm trees and warmth!   Both of us were intent on seeing as much of the town as possible.  She talked me into doing a whale watching cruise that I'd been hesitant about.  I'm so glad I went; I'm so glad I got to see her outside of academia, even for a few hours.  I will miss her.

From Derek Neal

Memory of Shona: conferences

I remember Shona's kindness and interest very well from the one occasion that we spent some time together, the 2010 MAMA conference at Conception Abbey, for which she recruited me. Shona waited at the Kansas City airport until I arrived on a delayed flight and then drove me and another attendee to the abbey. (At a junction in the road where a road sign indicated "Conception" was to the right, I wondered aloud what lay in the other direction, to which Shona replied "Contraception"!). After the conference Shona drove me back to Kansas City and gave me excellent ideas on how to spend my one evening in town. I am very sorry that I didn't have the chance to know this lovely person better, and my sympathies go out to her family and other friends.

From Frances Andrews

I did not know Shona well, but enjoyed the few occasions when I did meet her, including the memorable session at the Renaissance Society of America conference in Venice, where the venue (the vast and magnificent refectory of San Giorgio) did justice to the papers even if the audience didn't! Today I was reading about the 1321 exodus of students from Bologna and found myself needing to check some details, turning automatically to her book. I have been thinking about her and her family ever since I heard the news on the day after she died, but it still brought me up short to realise that this would not be followed by other work from the same pen. It will remain as a testament (no pun intended) to her clarity of thought and mastery of the history of Bologna and its university but how I wish there could have been more, and that she too could have enjoyed the long years of the testators whose lives she studied.