ORONO – Welch Everman, a University of Maine English professor best known among his colleagues for his generosity and among his students for his wide range of knowledge, died Friday, Sept. 17, at his home at age 57 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

“Welch was a remarkably generous person, the kind of person whose presence makes a room better,” Tony Brinkley, a fellow UM English professor, said Sunday. “He was also a remarkable teacher, the kind who viewed students in a way that made it possible for them to do wonderful things.”

Everman was a prolific author of more than 200 short stories, as well as a novel and two books of literary criticism. He supported himself for many years as a freelance writer before turning to teaching.

“[Welch] was one of two practicing fiction writers in our department,” English department chair Margaret Lukens said Sunday. “He was very important to the creative writing program.

“He was one of the most generous people in the department, both with students and other faculty,” she continued. “He was always willing to do whatever needed to be done on committees and advising for student theses.”

Everman was a 1968 graduate of Northwestern University and went on to receive his masters’ degree and Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. He started teaching at UMaine in 1987.

Melissa Armes, a 21-year-old senior English major at UM, took a creative writing class with Everman in the fall of 2003.

“He was so energetic and just willing to go a lot of places,” Armes said Sunday, recalling one day when he wore a SpongeBob SquarePants shirt to class. “He had such a broad range of work himself and was very open about sharing that.”

Armes said she signed up to take a literature class this fall with Everman, but it was canceled.

“I was looking forward to taking his class again,” she said.

Among his many talents and interests, Everman was an accomplished jazz trumpeter, playing frequently with a band made up of UM professors called Neo Bop.

He also was a cult film enthusiast, writing two books on cult horror and science fiction films.

Everman helped pioneer the university’s distance education program, which increased the range of professors through interactive television courses.

“He was so wide-ranging in his passions,” Lukens said.

Everman’s colleagues knew he was sick for some time, but he didn’t stop teaching until weeks before his death.

“It was always quite serious, but we were all sort of hoping that it would be taken care of,” Brinkley said.

“I’ve rarely known anybody who cared as much about his work,” Brinkley said. “In any community, there are people on whom the community depends, and Welch was certainly one of those.”

Everman is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and two adopted sons, Charlie and John. A memorial service will be held at noon Friday, Sept. 24, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church on Indian Island.