Shared by Noble & Greenough classmate Steve Grant with photos below:

Bill Frederick and I (Steve Grant) were co-presidents of the Noble & Greenough (Nobles) Dramatic Club in Dedham MA in senior year, 1958–59. He played the role of my wife in YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (three photos below) by Kaufman & Hart at Eliot Hall, Jamaica Plain. Nobles boys played female parts in those days. We kept up over the years. Fellow classmate Dave Perry and I traveled by bus from Amherst College to Yale to stay with and party with Bill. When he came to DC from Athens, OH, classmate Ted Mann and I would accompany Bill to Vietnamese restaurants. One of his favorite dishes was “Cha Jaw,” crispy spring rolls. Bill and I independently lived, conducted research, and wrote in and on Indonesia. He taught Southeastern Asia studies at Ohio University in Athens, OH for decades. He visited us when we were living in Jakarta from 1992 to 1996 (photo below). I was a Foreign Service officer with USAID in the area of education and training. We both studied and could converse in the language, “Bahasa Indonesia.” We were both close friends of the American editor and translator, John McGlynn, who was co-founder and is chair of the Lontar Foundation in Jakarta. Bill also learned Dutch, as he studied and wrote on military history of the Dutch in Indonesia when it was the Dutch East Indies. In 1999 at our 40th Nobles class reunion, dapper Bill with ever a dramatic flair, with classmate Richard Seiler (photo below), our AFS exchange student from Strasbourg, France. Bill, Richard, and I became authors, with over 20 combined book titles to our names. As one can surmise from the photo with Richard, Bill had an infectious laugh. Bill has a Wikipedia profile, (I note, not updated since 2010).

Shared by Gillian Berchowitz, colleague of Bill’s from the Ohio University Press:

Bill Frederick was committed to research-based scholarship and the fundamental role of scholarly publishing in disseminating a variety of works of academic excellence.

I first met Bill in Scott Quad in 1989 but only got to know him well some years later when I took on the position of Executive Editor of the Research in International Studies series, which had become an Ohio University Press imprint, and asked him and Elizabeth Collins to join the CIS team of area consultants or series editors.

Bill was the perfect colleague and collaborator in that he cared deeply about Southeast Asian Studies and he empathized with authors and readers. He was motivated to acquire focused academic works of the highest caliber and equally enthusiastic about producing books that would appeal to a wider undergraduate readership. He was an avid reader of fiction and enjoyed working to develop academic manuscripts and books that were entirely readable, thought-provoking, and based on the best current scholarship we could find.

I could rely on Bill. His energy and practicality made for a delightful working relationship. He would show up at the Press to pick up manuscripts he needed to read rather than wait for the mail.

His hospitality and culinary skills are well known to those in the history department who were lucky enough to have enjoyed them. An invitation to tea or dinner at Bill’s house was a spectacular pleasure.

Bill was fierce and fragile and he knew how to be a friend. I mourn him and miss him. 

Shared by Katherine Jellison, colleague of Bill’s from the history department at Ohio University: 

What I remember most is Bill's generosity. For instance, years ago when we were on a search committee together, Bill proposed that finalists for the position dine with committee members at his home rather than at a restaurant. Bill's graciousness as a host and talents as a chef were on full display at those dinner parties. On each of those occasions, he served an elaborate and delicious meal and regaled his guests with conversation about his travels, his New England boyhood, and his favorite films and books. Those evenings were the perfect way to impress job candidates that the history department was a congenial place to work, and we ended up hiring an excellent young scholar for the position. This is just one example of how Bill's hard work, his talents, and his giving nature benefited his colleagues in the Department of History.