[Buddha-l] Obit. of a scholar whose books a few on this list might already know about

[JKirkpatrick]

X-posted from H-Asia.
Amazing breadth of work here. 
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William R. LaFleur, 1936-2010
***************
It is with great regret that we note the passing of Dr. William
R. LaFleur of the University of Pennsylvania. The cause was a
massive heart attack on Friday, February 26, 2010.

Professor LaFleur was the E Dale Saunders Professor in Japanese
Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and
Civilizations, and also Professor in the Department of Religious
Studies. Professor LaFleur was an authority on Japanese thought
who trained at the University of Michigan (M.A. in Comparative
Literature) and the University of Chicago (M.A. and Ph.D.
degrees in the History of Religions/East Asian Studies).  He
previously taught at Princeton University,  the University of
California at Los Angeles, and Sophia University in Tokyo.  In
1989 he became the first non-Japanese scholar to receive the
Watsuji Tetsuro Culture Prize.

LaFleur's published books covered topics from medieval literature
in Mirror of the Moon (1978) and Awesome Nightfall (2003), both
studies of the priest-poet Saigyo(1118-1180). Other works covered
broader issues of religious thought, including The Karma of Words
(1986) and Buddhism in Cultural Perspective (1888).  He dealt
with complicated issues of abortion in Liquid Life (1992). He
edited Zen and Western Thought: Essays by Masao Abe (1985),
recipient of a prize from the American Academy of Religion, and
Dogen Studies (1985),  He also edited Dark Medicine:
Rationalizing Unethical Medical Research  (2008), a study of
Japanese critics of American biotechnology and bioethics.

As a gifted poet and philosopher, Bill brought humanity and
wisdom to the study of everything he encountered, from the taste
of tea to the technology of medicine, from hungry ghosts to haiku
poets.  His students, colleagues, friends and family will miss
him immensely.
Memorial service plans will be announced soon.

Frank L. Chance
Center for East Asian Studies
644 Williams Hall
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6305
215 573-4203
"Frank L. Chance" <chancefl at sas.upenn.edu>