[Buddha-l] Prof. Leslie Kawamura

[Dan Lusthaus]

Very sad news indeed. Leslie's health was declining, but we were all hoping 
he would hang in there just a bit longer (a Festschrift in his honor is 
underway -- we were hoping he would be here to receive it).

In addition to the "extraordinary kindness, gentleness and humility" 
mentioned by Richard, all who knew him enjoyed his endless warmth and good 
humor. Beneath that endearing exterior was a keen textualist, skilled in 
Tibetan, Chinese, Sanskrit, Japanese, who had the good sense and wisdom 
throughout his career as a buddhologist, from the time he was a student 
until his final projects, to keep Yogacara at the center of his work (though 
he was an ordained Jodo Shinshu priest).

A brief biography can be found here:

http://www.bcc.ca/ldc/directors_message/kawamura_biography.html

Dan

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Hayes" <rhayes at unm.edu>
To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 4:32 PM
Subject: [Buddha-l] Prof. Leslie Kawamura


> Fear friends,
>
> It is with a heavy heart that I convey the news that Leslie Kawamura died 
> last night after being admitted to a hospital in Calgary and diagnosed 
> with pneumonia. A mutual friend wrote me last night to say that Leslie 
> looked very weak and frail and then wrote this morning to say that he had 
> died.
>
> I understand that an announcement, with a summary of Leslie's 
> accomplishments, will be posted within a few days on H-BUDDHISM. 
> Meanwhile, those of you who were fortunate enough to know him will surely 
> remember him as a man of extraordinary kindness, gentleness and humility. 
> Canadians will remember him as a pioneering scholar of Buddhism, who did 
> much to help Buddhist studies grow and thrive in Canada. He will be 
> missed.
>
> Richard Hayes
> Department of Philosophy
> MSC03 2140
> 1 University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
>
> http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes
> rhayes at unm.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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