H-ASIA: Burton Stein Memorial Fund (fwd)

[Frank Conlon]

Dear colleagues:  for the information of subscribers to the Indology list.
					Frank Conlon

From: Frank Conlon <conlon at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list H-ASIA <H-ASIA at h-net.msu.edu>
Subject: H-ASIA: Burton Stein Memorial Fund

                                H-ASIA
                           September 21, 1996

The Burton Stein Memorial Fund
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Ed. note:  At the time of my posting of Burton Stein's obituary last
spring, and again this past week with the notice of the memorial workshop,
some H-ASIA readers have sent queries about whether there was any
memorial fund to which they could contribute.  Burt's widow, Dorothy
Stein, has sent me the following note, which both identifies a
wonderfully appropriate form remembering and honoring Burt, and eloquently
adds a further dimension to our understanding of this remarkable man.  I
should note for H-ASIA members in the U. S. that Dorothy is able to
accept dollar checks (payable to her with an indication that it is for
the Burton Stein Memorial Fund).
                                                F.F.C.
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From: Dorothy Stein <dstein at a1.sas.ac.uk>


                         BURTON STEIN 1926-1996

To friends, family, colleagues, students and many others who knew
him, whether in person or simply from his work, by correspondence,
or just by reputation, it seems incredible that one so vigorous and
audacious, so lively, warm and funny, who seemed for so long to defy
age and mortality, should suddenly have vanished.

Burt's most lasting monument must of course be his life work, his
professional contributions to the continuing development of the
social and economic history of India, particularly that of the
south, where he did much to stir up debate and enliven countless
meetings, conferences and the less formal occasions that took
place in pubs and parties.  His professional involvement, despite
his notional 'retirement', continued almost to his death; he
leaves a history of all of India that was approaching completion
when his illness forced him to desist.  And though his interests
and publications were diverse, perhaps the theme that ran most
clearly through it all was that of 'community', which he defined,
not in the narrow nationalist, class or sectarian sense by which
the universal human desire for belonging has been so twisted and
perverted, but as a locality where many different kinds of
individuals and groups necessarily find common interest in the
environment that affects them all.

Burt always felt strongly that he 'was a part of that involuntary,
palpitating life', and could not be content only to observe and
analyse the past from an almost paradisiacal niche in Hawaii. Among
the reasons for his decision to relocate in London had been the
possibility of participating in community life in a way that no
longer seemed possible in his native country.  Settling in the
Waterloo area of London, within a short walking distance of outlets
for three engrossing passions - the India Office Library, the South
Bank Centre for the performing arts, and County Hall, the headquarters
of local government -- he plunged into local issues with his usual
enthusiasm.  Over the course of time, he acquired an expertise in the
social welfare system that he used for a decade as a volunteer advice
worker.  For several years he headed the area's community planning
group, whose hard work he saw successfully influence the outcome of a
number of public inquiries - often as not to be overturned by the
political considerations of central government.

With dismay, he watched the mounting attacks on local government,
housing, transportation and education, most of them on the hollow
pretext of 'efficiency' or 'choice'.  The one institution that
always seemed to embody the ideals of quality and equality, to
continue to be valued and hence somehow to function under the
unremitting onslaughts of cuts in funding was the National Health
Service, of which he was to be a grateful beneficiary both in
life and death, although for so long he seemed no more in need
of a doctor than of a toupee.

In 1990 he suffered a heart attack and received prompt, sensitive
and expert care which would have cost tens of thousands of
dollars in the United States -only a fraction of which might have
been covered by insurance - and which restored him to even more
vigorous health and activity than before.  Six years later, during
his final illness, he received care and treatment that would have
cost hundreds of thousands.  There was no imaginable remedy or
service that was not lavished on him without stint, despite the
hopelessness of his condition and swingeing cuts which, in the
name of efficiency, had created desperate shortages of the most
basic medical necessities.  Although there was, miraculously,
always a bed for him when he needed it, simply to change a
dressing took several times as long for staff to round up the
required bandages and ointments - inefficiency in the name of
efficiency.  Yet the overworked, underpaid, hard pressed and hard
stressed nursing staff continued to pay devoted attention, not
only to every need but to every wish - even including writing out
postcards to his friends at his dictation when he was no longer
able to do so.

Devising an appropriate commemoration for Burt is not an easy
task.  His colleagues may meet together and discuss the issues and
subjects that interested him and to which he contributed.  But how
can the causes and institutions that he touched and was touched
by be in some way recognized, not just with thanks, but with
attention to the perils that hang over them, and without papering
over and helping to conceal the damage already inflicted?  And how
can this be done while preserving and making visible the
interconnections between the disparate parts of his life and
interests?

After considerable thought and consultation with both local
activists and professionals, I have determined to establish a
memorial fund to be dedicated to the amelioration of the working
conditions of the nurses of St Thomas' Hospital, who cared and
continue to care not only for Burt but equally for all their
patients, and to do this in the first instance by furnishing and
equipping a room for them to take whatever short respites, meals
and refreshments their twelve-hour shifts may occasionally but
unpredictably permit.  Other possibilities may in due course
present themselves.  To this end, the advances on the royalties
of Burt's final book will be dedicated, so that both he and his
colleagues and friends who have generously given their time,
efforts and knowledge toward its completion will have contributed
and added their thanks to my own. In addition, by circulating
this notice, not only within the locality and country that was
his final home, but among his friends and acquaintances in Asian
Studies all over the world, I hope to help publicize the often-
denied truth about what an institution devoted to the well-being
of all without distinction can mean and be for every kind of
community, no matter where located.

If you wish to aid the Burton Stein memorial fund, please send
your contribution and/or suggestions and comments, to me:

Dorothy Stein
37 Pearman Street
London SE1 7RB, UK.
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