Virginia James Tufte (August 19, 1918 – March 28, 2020) was a writer and distinguished emerita professor of English at the University of Southern California.
[2] She attended Midland College and worked as a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and the Nebraska State Journal as a young woman.
[8] Tufte was a member of the English faculty of the University of Southern California for 25 years, beginning in 1964, and retiring in 1989.
[10][11][12] Besides her work on syntax and style, Tufte was notable for books and essays in two other areas of literary study and for a video biography.
[14][15] Besides numerous essays and contributions to books in this field, some in collaboration with Wendy Furman-Adams of Whittier College,[16] she wrote and produced a one-hour video biography of a literary illustrator Reaching for Paradise: The Life and Art of Carlotta Petrina (1994) that has appeared on educational television stations, is archived in college and university libraries, and is in use in classrooms.