George R. Sidney was born May 10, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to Meijer Isaac Rubenstein (1906-1975) and Mary Schwartz (1906-1936). George had two younger sisters, Mary Rothman (-2007) and Vini Meyers of Baltimore.  

George was a lucky man. He didn’t get killed or wounded while serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Based on the experience, he later wrote and published a novel, For the Love of Dying (1971). Thanks to the G.I. bill, he was able to receive college education. He further earned his doctorate in American studies. His dissertation, William Faulkner in Hollywood (1959), was cited by many scholars as a pioneer work.

After graduate school in New Mexico, George began a career in international education. First, he taught from 1959 to 1962 at the university of the Americas in Mexico City. For a couple of years after that, he taught at California State University, Northridge. The rest of his academic career was in international settings.

George allegedly holds the record for most “Fulbright professorships" received: two years in Korea, four in Spain, two summers in Poland, and in Vietnam from 1967 until the "Tet Offensive” in early 1968.

Between 1971 and 1972, George taught in Madrid, Spain with the University of Maryland Overseas Program.  The Maryland relationship was to continue on and off until the early 2000s. During those years, George both taught and held various senior administrative positions with Maryland--Asia, Europe and Maryland.

George was attracted to and was found to be attractive by many women. He married three creative and independent-minded individuals, who enriched his life at various stages. With his first wife Rhoda, he had Michele, his only daughter, and David, the first son; with Christie, Christopher, his second son. He deeply loved and appreciated all his children for who they are. He adored his two grandchildren: David’s daughter Sophie, with whom he shared his experience and knowledge of the Korean War; and Christopher’s son Cole, with whom he played chess.

During the last three decades of his life, George lived with Hye-jin in the United States (Arizona, California, Indiana, and Washington); Canada (Vancouver, and Montreal), Korea, and Japan, while enjoying the companionship of their cats (Yuri, Mochi, and El Chato) and dogs (Cosimo and Don Giovanni).  

There were numerous things in life that George cherished and took pleasure in—books, movies, art, music, traveling, motorcycling, cooking, grinding fresh coffee beans, solving problems, etc.

George was respected and appreciated by many friends, colleagues, and neighbors for his generosity, compassion, sense of irony, and wit. He was generous, in particular, with his talent in creative writing. When writers shared their manuscripts, he read them carefully and tried his best to share helpful feedback. He was acknowledged in multiple books by American and Korean writers for his contributions. According to a writer friend, “George was and will be for me an existential usher, the one who opens the doors for you and encourages to thrive in life, in whatever form.”

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