[INDOLOGY] Demise of Professor Edwin Gerow

[Fitzgerald, James]

Yes, another sad passing! Indeed it was good karma that led me to Ed Gerow
in 1975, when I returned to Chicago from a dissertation-year in Pune and
found him newly ensconced up in Harper Tower. He introduced me to the
Aṣṭādhyāyī and the Mahābhāṣya and it was a delightful tutorial. We intended
to speak only Sanskrit for the year, but that resolve soon dissipated in
the heat of our saṃvādas. He became one of the members of my dissertation
committee and remained a wry friend in the years after we were both long
gone from Chicago. I wrote my paper "Saving buddhis in Epic Mokṣadharma"
for his 2015 Festschrift (IJHS, 19: 97-137) with his Huguenot background in
mind ("by grace alone, through faith alone"). Learned, astutely penetrating
and exacting, he was exceptionally inspiring among the many outstanding
teachers I had the privilege of studying with at the University of Chicago.

-- 
James L. Fitzgerald
Das Professor of Sanskrit, Emeritus
Department of Classics
Brown University





On Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 11:31 AM Herman Tull via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> This is very sad news. I can only imagine there are many on this list
> whose lives Prof. Gerow touched, and who benefited from his great erudition.
>
> For those interested, I have attached the brief introduction to the volume
> Deepak referred to, which includes some details of Edwin Gerow's life and
> scholarship.
>
> *Herman Tull, PhD*
> *Princeton, NJ*
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 8:41 AM Deepak Sarma via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> I was fortunate to see Prof. Gerow in January of this year. I was lalso
>> ucky to have studied with him when he taught at Reed College in Portland
>> Oregon. If it were not for him I would not have studied Madhva/ Davita
>> Vedanta.
>>
>> I am glad that we were able to publish a Festschrift of sorts:
>>
>> https://www.jstor.org/stable/i24631627
>>
>> Ācāryasamarpaṇam: Studies in Honor of Edwin Gerow
>> International Journal of Hindu Studies
>> Vol. 19, No. 1/2, Special Issue: Studies in Honor of Edwin Gerow
>> (APRIL–AUGUST 2015)
>>
>> I am very sad indeed but so grateful to have crossed paths with him.
>>
>> Here he is in January 2025.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Deepak Sarma, Ph.D.
>> deepaksarma.com
>>
>> Pronouns: they/them/their
>>
>> Inaugural Distinguished Scholar in the Public Humanities, Case Western
>> Reserve University
>>
>> Professor of Religious Studies at Case Western Reserve University,
>> College of Arts and Sciences
>> Professor of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University, School of
>> Medicine (secondary appointment)
>> President Elect of the Grateful Dead Studies Association
>> Curatorial Consultant at Cleveland Museum of Art’s Department of Asian Art
>>
>> Psychedelic Use, Law, and Spiritual Experience (PULSE) Affiliated
>> Researcher
>> At The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and
>> Bioethics at Harvard Law School
>>
>> Contact:
>> Dr. Deepak Sarma
>> Department of Religious Studies
>> Tomlinson Hall
>> 2121 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive
>> Case Western Reserve University
>> Cleveland, OH 44106-7112
>> 216-368-4790
>> deepak.sarma at case.edu
>>
>> > On Jul 24, 2025, at 8:01 AM, Lyne Bansat-Boudon via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>> >
>> > Dear all,
>> > I have just sent the very sad news of Prof Gerow demise, but through a
>> wrong way, and without the proper subject. ( you will find it in the last
>> mail concerning Carmen Spiers' recent book)
>> > My apologies .
>> > Best wishes
>> > Lyne
>> >
>> >
>> > Envoyé à partir de Outlook pour iOS
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > INDOLOGY mailing list
>> > INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20250726/f770219e/attachment.htm>