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H-ASIA December 19, 2010 Sidney DeVere Brown, further memories (x-post H-Japan) ***************************************************************** From: Louis G. Perez <lgperez@ilstu.edu> I too would like to add a few brief remarks on the passing of my good friend Sidney Devere Brown. Sid was a truly remarkable fellow in that in addition to all the fine qualities previously mentioned by others in the comments to H-JAPAN, he was an extraordinary mentor and model for many of us in Japanese Studies in the Midwest. As one of the founders of both the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) and the Midwest Japan Seminar (MJS), he continued to be an active participant of both organizations until about a year before his death. He continued to produce papers, serve as panel discussant and chair, and to provide valuable suggestions to the papers of others. Never condescending or self-important, he ably demonstrated how senior scholars contributed to the continuing study of Japan. I was impressed that even long after he had retired from active academia, he continued to take copious notes on his always-handy pad of foolscap at every presentation. From my first meetings at both of those organization in 1986, I was struck by how generous he was with his time and wisdom. He accepted several of us into his always-expanding personal and professional world. He helped all of us to cobble together panels and scholarship. He served on two AAS panels with me (he somehow convinced Marius Jansen to serve as chair on one!), contributed a chapter to a Festschrift I edited in honor of Ian Mutsu, and read two of my manuscripts before publication. I know that he did that for many others as well. A remarkable raconteur, he often provided human context to the early years of MCAA and MJS. He told charming little stories about people whom we had come to know by reading their scholarship as graduate students. Dick Beardsley, Robert Ward, Robert Sakai, George Beckmann, Percy Buchanan, Bonnie Oh, and many others came alive for us through Sid's stories. Lastly, Sid was ever the ready guide to Jazz in the Midwest. I tagged along with Sid to Jazz dives in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and even Norman, Oklahoma. I also shared a table with him at some unforgettable jazz sets in Seattle, Memphis, New York, Boston, Washington, New Orleans, and even the fabled Blue Note in Tokyo. His knowledge about the early days of Jazz was truly amazing. His personal jazz collection was astounding. Curiously, he had dozens of recordings by various artists of the 1928 jazz standard "Nagasaki" by Harry Warren and Mort Dixon! I was happy to contribute a rather rare copy of a Chet Baker cover of that tune that I stumbled upon in a little shop in Hong Kong! Sid was truly one of a kind. I never took a class from him, but I consider myself one of his many deshi. I'll miss him. Louis G. Perez Illinois State University ****************************************************************** To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu> For holidays or short absences send post to: <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/
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