[Xmca-l] Halliday Memorial

[mike cole]

Dear Colleagues,

This morning there is a memorial service for Michael Halliday. In light of
our
recent discussions and current activities, with some help from Andy, I have
sent the following note. It was done in a hurry and without your
permission. I hope the occasion warrants my breech of ethics.

mike



On behalf of the editorial board and readership of *Mind, Culture, and
Activity*, I am writing to express our collective

sadness at the loss of Michael Halliday. News of his passing reached
us just as we were undertaking a project

focused on his work in relation to that of Lev Vygotsky and related
scholars. We all agree with one of our

community who wrote that Michael's enormous body of work in developing
the theory of systemic functional

linguistics is the single most important 20th century contribution to
our understanding of language systems.

He will be sorely missed by many friends and colleagues, but his work
lives on in our own efforts to build upon

his ideas and his example as a socially committed scholar.


We are contributing to the owl fund.  It seems fitting. To quote a common
ancestor,  "The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only as dusk falls."



Michael Cole


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(The owl fund, at www.owls.org was designated as a preferable to sending
flowers.)