At a time when the study of composition seems especially prone to excess and imbalanceheading toward what could be a tyrannizing theoretical orderhere is a call back to the center, to the concreteness of the teaching moment itself.

In a festschrift to honor William F. Irmscher, director for twenty-three years of the University of Washington composition program, the editors outline the need for a "balancing act" among theories and between theory and teaching. This balancing act is a tribute to Irmscher, who counseled compromise and the resolution of conflicting viewpoints. Irmscher could...