[Xmca-l] Re: Vera John-Steiner has passed away

[David Kellogg]

The first I knew of Vera, back in the seventies, she was the mother of my
best friend in college. We both had these somewhat famous parents, but,
being  callow youths busy with greater things, neither of us had really
bothered to look into our little legacies.

When my old friend spoke of her as "a Vygotsky person" and I found out this
Vygotsky person was a pioneering literacy linguist to boot, I decided I was
going to look into it for him. Unfortunately, I only met her briefly on her
book tours, so I was really flattered when Rob Lake asked me to contribute
to her Festschrift.

We heard from her just a few weeks ago, so I know she left us with her eyes
open and her mind lucid. I also know she left something really important
with her son; I'd like to think that she also left something important to
me.


David Kellogg

Recent Article in *Mind, Culture, and Activity* 24 (4) 'Metaphoric,
Metonymic, Eclectic, or Dialectic? A Commentary on “Neoformation: A
Dialectical Approach to Developmental Change”'

Free e-print available (for a short time only) at

http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YAWPBtmPM8knMCNg6sS6/full


On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 11:23 AM, Natalia Gajdamaschko <nataliag@sfu.ca>
wrote:

> Vera's passing profoundly saddens me. My deepest sympathy for Vera's
> family, her daughter, and her grandchildren.
> But also deepest condolences to all of us, her colleagues, her students
> and her friends.  She will be fondly remembered by lots of us.
> Natalia.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "mike cole" <mcole@ucsd.edu>
> To: "Andy Blunden" <ablunden@mira.net>, "eXtended Mind, Culture,
> Activity" <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, December 7, 2017 4:09:46 PM
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Vera John-Steiner has passed away
>
> Vera has been a special person in my life for more than
> 40 years. She was one of the first colleagues to seek to educate me in
> Vygotsky's ideas and a constant source of inspiration in my teaching. I
> fear I never met up to her standards as a pupil, but I am certain that not
> only I, but many many others, benefited from her tireless efforts.
>
> She remains a standard to try to live up to. And, lucky for us,
> her legacy survives in the work of her colleagues, students, and the many
> outstanding publications she has bequeathed us.
>
> :..-((
>
> mike
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 3:55 PM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:
>
> > I am sad to hear of Vera's passing as well. I never met her
> > personally, but I was privileged to collaborate with Vera in
> > the exploration of collaboration, an aspect of human life
> > which Vera championed and for which she will be forever
> > remembered.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > Andy Blunden
> > http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
> > On 8/12/2017 10:11 AM, Kris Gutierrez wrote:
> > > My heart is heavy.  With love, appreciation, admiration, and respect,
> > for a giant in our field, who was as generous, inclusive, and kind, as
> she
> > was brilliant.  So grateful to have had the opportunity to know and learn
> > from her across various spaces.   Selfishly, I was sad I didn’t get a
> > response to my recent message to her.  Of course, the point was to let
> her
> > know again how we all felt about her and her contribution.  Love and
> > strength to her family and loved ones. May our community continue to
> learn
> > from her humanity.   Kris
> > >
> > > (excuse typos)
> > >
> > > Kris D. Gutiérrez
> > > Carol Liu Professor
> > > Graduate School of Education
> > > Prolepsis Design Collaborative
> > > Member, National Academy of Education
> > > University of California, Berkeley
> > > 5629 Tolman Hall
> > > Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
> > > gutierrkd@berkeley.edu
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >> On Dec 7, 2017, at 1:51 PM, Robert Lake <boblake@georgiasouthern.edu>
> > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Dear XMCA Family,
> > >>
> > >> Our beloved Vera John-Steiner died last night very shortly after she
> > >> experienced a stroke.
> > >> She had posted to this site on 11/25/17.  We will send more
> information
> > and
> > >> an obituary as
> > >> it becomes available.  Attached is the last "letter" from
> > >> *Constructing a Community of Thought:Letters on the Scholarship,
> > Teaching,
> > >> and Mentoring of Vera John-Steiner *(2013).
> > >> In this piece, we sought to synthesize all the wonderful contributions
> > >> from so many of her friends, collaborators and students from the book
> > >> mentioned above.
> > >>
> > >> Warmest condolences to her family and to all her knew and loved her.
> > >> *Robert Lake*
> > >> <Constructing a Community of Thought Last Letter.pdf>
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> "The past isn't dead, it isn't even past."
> - William Faulkner
>
>