Vail developed his research and communicationskills in the Boston public school system.
Born in Cambridge in 1940, he attended theBoston Latin School, then Boston College.
Moving on to the University of Wisconsin, Vailreceived his Ph.D. in Bantulinguistics in 1972.
Vail held a number of professorships at theUniversities of Malawi, Zambia, and Virginiabefore joining the Harvard faculty in 1984.
One of the world's foremost scholars in Africancolonial history, Vail coauthored a number ofbooks and articles, including Capitalism andColonialism in Mozambique.
In his later years, Vail was afflicted by anumber of illnesses, including heart trouble andpneumonia, but he remained dedicated to his workand his students.
According to Kirby, he was "an extraordinarilybrave man" who never complained, and continued toproduce quality research.
Despite his losing battle with lymphoma, Vailcontinued to work on a dictionary of the languageof the Lakeside Tonga people of Malawi.
Vail is survived by Patricia Anne Horochena,his wife of 31 years, a daughter Sharon Mulengaand a brother, David.
A memorial service at Harvard is being planned,but the date has not yet been set.