[Tlc] Maranabhava Acariya David Wyatt

[Charles Keyes]

I would like to share a few thoughts on the passing of David Wyatt.

I have known David since we first entered graduate school together at the same time and we (along with Constance Wilson) suffered together through Thai language classes at Cornell under RB Jones and Marv Brown during our first years as students. Jane and I went together with David and Alene to New York to be interviewed at the Ford Foundation for Foreign Area Fellowship Program fellowships for our dissertation research. In those days, Ford interviewed wives (and, in my case, wife-soon-to-be) as well as candidates -- something about being suitable for being representatives of the Ford program abroad. David and I both received fellowships.

As Jane and I were going to Bangkok about three months ahead of them, David and Alene asked Jane and me to rent a place which they could take on after they arrived. We rented a house on Soi Suan Phlu which, at the time, was on the edge of rice fields. We hired a woman, Sanga Ramansri, to help us in the house. Sanga would not only continue working for David and Alene and their first son, Douglas, while they were in Thailand but would continue working for us everytime we have been in Thailand for an extended period through the 1970s. She is now 96 and will, I know, go to make merit at the Mon wat she is affiliated at in memory of David.

When Jane and I came down to Bangkok from Mahasarakham province in northeastern Thailand where we were carrying out our research, we always stayed with David and Alene. They also came to visit us in Mahasarakham and I will never forget the trip I took David on on my little 50cc moped from Mahasarakham to Muang Fa Daed, a famous 6th-8th century site in Kalasin province. We were totally covered by Isan red dust when we got back to Mahasarakham. Nonetheless, David told me a number of times how much he had appreciated seeing the famous Dvaravati site.

David and Alene returned to Cornell before we did and had lived in an apartement in an old house in the very small town of Genoa. Since David got a job almost immediately at SOAS, they asked if we want to take on the apartment. We did so and lived in this truly funky place for most of the remainder of our time in Ithaca.

After we received our PhDs, our paths diverged with David and Alene moving to Michigan after living in London for a couple of years and then moving back to take the position he held for the rest of his life at Cornell. We still met at meetings of the Association for Asian Studies, International Thai Studies conferences, and even in Ithaca and Seattle. We exchanged many letters about our respective work.

Ever since David was diagnosed with MS Alene has been truly saintly in her support. She saw him through a previous very serious illness from which she and most of us did not expect him to survive. Even though he was wheel chair bound, she helped him fulfil his desire to return to Thailand several times over the past few years. It was a combination of David's strong will to live life to the fullest and Alene's uneblievable devotion and energy made those trips to Thailand possible.

I last saw David in Chiang Mai in January this year when it happened he and Alene were staying in the same apartment building. We together made our way from the apartment house to the nearby new office of Silkworm Books. As I wrote Alene, "I will cherish the memory I have of David last January at the opening of Silkworm's new office. David was clearly the center of attention until Princess Sirindhorn arrived and even she first stopped to talk with him."

David has left an impressive legacy of scholarship on Thai history, but to give an adequate assessment of it would require far more space. I want here to remember David as much as a friend as a colleague.

Biff (Charles Keyes)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <justinm at ucr.edu>
To: <tlc at lists.ucr.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 8:19 AM
Subject: [Tlc] Maranabhava Acariya David Wyatt


> Dear TLC Members,
> 
> I was told last night by two of Dr. David Wyatt's students,
> Pattaratorn Chirapravati and Michael Montesano, that sadly
> Than Ajahn Dr. David Wyatt passed away. Although, I had only
> had a few meals and meetings with David over the years, his
> writings and approaches were a major influence on my work and
> still are. In fact, it is strange, I was on a flight from
> Bangkok to Taipei yesterday and was editing some footnotes on
> a paper which included David's translation and edition of the
> Nan Chronicle and his later article on the relationship
> between Lanna and Lanxang. These opened up the entire field of
> documents on this region and are just two of the dozens of
> foundational works by the great doyen of Thai historical
> studies. Besides writing, he has been the direct mentor of
> many, if not most, of the best sholars in Southeast Asian
> Historical studies in North America and Thailand. He has
> passed away, but his footprints and endnotes persist and
> pervade. His humor, his advice, and his guidance will be missed.
> 
> See below a note from Thak Chaloemtiarana and Allen Riedy on
> H-Asia. David's colleagues and students from Cornell and
> Thailand will be sending news of the memorial and other events
> soon. 
> 
> If you would like to send your condolences to Alene, you can
> reach her
> at
> <mailto:alene at lightlink.com>alene at lightlink.com
> 
> A very sad day,
> justin
> 
> News of the passing of Professor David K. Wyatt, 14 November 2006
> ************************************************************************
> Ed. note: I hope that it will be possible in the near future
> to post a
> complete obituary of David Wyatt--his contributions to Asian
> Studies
> were 
> enormous, and we shall all miss him very much.            FFC
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> From: Allen Riedy <ariedy at hawaii.edu>
> 
> I forward herewith notice of the death of Professor David K.
> Wyatt, the 
> eminent historian of Southeast Asia and promoter of
> development of the 
> professional field of Southeast Asian Studies.  He also was an 
> important contributor to the revitalization of the
> Bibliography of 
> Asian Studies and made major contributions to getting the BAS
> online.
> 
> From: SEAP  <seap at cornell.edu>
> 
> Dear Friends,
> 
> It is with deep sadness that I inform you that Professor David
> Wyatt
> passed away early this morning.  Alene was by his side and she
> says that
> he was at peace.  Even during his retirement and failing
> health, David
> continued to write, to give lectures, and to mentor students.
> He is a
> role model and an inspiration to all of us.
> 
> If you would like to send your condolences to Alene, you can
> reach her
> at
> <mailto:alene at lightlink.com>alene at lightlink.com
> 
> Thak
> 
> Thak Chaloemtiarana (tc17 at cornell.edu)
> Director, Southeast Asia Program
> Cornell University
> ---------
> 
> Allen Riedy                     Telephone: (808) 956-2309
> Head of Asia Collection             Fax: (808) 956-2318
> 406 Hamilton Library
> University of Hawaii
> Honolulu, HI 96822
> 
> ______________
> Dr. Justin McDaniel
> Dept. of Religious Studies
> 2617 Humanities Building
> University of California, Riverside
> Riverside, CA 92521
> 951-827-4530
> justinm at ucr.edu
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.ucr.edu/mailman/listinfo/tlc
>
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