Background
Cameron grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, and attended the University of Notre Dame.
Cameron grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, and attended the University of Notre Dame.
University of Notre Dame.
He taught American literature and the history of the English language at the University of Dayton from 1964 until his death in 2003. In 1978, he began accompanying fellow Dayton professor Richard Baker to the National Spelling Bee, where Baker had served as official pronouncer since the 1950s. After Baker retired in 1979, spelling bee officials asked Cameron to take his place.
Cameron, who had begun reading the dictionary as a third-grader, annually prepared for the spelling bee at his sister"s house in Dearborn, where he would pronounce words six hours a day for two weeks in May.
National Spelling Bee director Paige Kimble said that Cameron had "a rich voice" and "could relate genuinely and positively with children of all different backgrounds and demeanors."
In February of 2003, Cameron died at age 65 in his Kettering, Ohio, home, of what appeared to be a heart attack suffered while he was re-reading William Faulkner"s Light in August. Jacques Bailly succeeded him as the National Spelling Bee"s pronouncer.