Dear
Sid,
I
miss you. I cannot believe you are gone. You were the reason why I moved to the
United States. Mine was the last faculty appointment at the Johns Hopkins
Department of Anthropology that you were involved in making. What an honor that
was. At that point, I was the youngest member of the Department and you were
the oldest, but we thought, didn’t we, how similarly we approached
anthropology. I was in awe, of course, because I read your Sweetness and
Power as a student, far away in England, and was struck by depth and
breadth, but above all, really accessible writing, no pretense, no jargon. When
I visited the Hopkins campus for the job interview, from Australia where I was
a postdoc, I was overjoyed to meet you and find you exactly the person who
wrote that great book—no pretense, no jargon, but yes, with abundance of grace,
wit, and humor. Truly it was the honor I joined that Department at that time.
We
shared many things in common in our understanding of anthropology, despite the
fact that we studied anthropology in different parts of the world at different
times. And you never made me feel like I was the youngest and most junior
member of the Department. When I was not certain about my academic future, you
told me, gently but firmly, that I would be all right and would go far. “Life
is long,” you said…. You were right. Thank you for believing in me.
I
sent my book to Jackie, yes, the book that you kindly agreed when I asked you
if I could dedicate it to you. My only regret is that I did not get around soon
enough to mail you the book before you left. That book, on food of course, I
wrote reminiscing about wonderful meals you treated my husband and me to. The
meals you cooked were the same as your work and your person—no pretense, only
full of grace, heart, imagination, originality, but above all, courage and
strength.
I
wish you well in your journey. I will be always thinking of you.
Yours,
Sonia
Sonia
Ryang|Rice University
