GILE-SIG

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In Memorium

Commemorating Matthew Walsh

All of us in GILE were shocked and saddened by the recent death of Matthew Walsh from cancer. Matt was an invaluable member of our Global Issues SIG who brought a unique blend of energy, commitment and passion to his life, his work and his friends. He was a dynamic language teacher, global educator and social activist involved with a variety of projects ranging from helping the homeless and organizing Pan-SIG conferences to presenting about global issues and volunteering in Tohoku. He was a hard-working educator, a compassionate citizen, a warm-hearted human being... and an inspiration to us all. He will be sorely missed. The best tribute we can pay, perhaps, is to re-dedicate ourselves to promoting the ideals that Matt lived and worked for – peace, tolerance, justice - that form the basis of our mission as global educators working for a better world.

Here are a few tributes to Matthew from JALT members (more will be posted as they are sent in):

Shortly after the earthquake and tsunami of 3.11 Matthew, who was a facebook friend, wrote to me about whether I knew of any need for interpreters in Tohoku. I was impressed that he was willing to go all the way there from Kansai at such a troubling time. Later it seems he did go with a van filled with necessities for people in need. I imagine many people benefited from his selfless service. I didn't know Matthew well but on the occasions we did chat he impressed me with his intelligence, wit, and sense of humor. We also shared a love of bicycling so I think we could have easily become close friends. It is sad and shocking to hear that we have lost Matthew so early. At least his family and friends can know he lived well and fully and with great concern for others. RIP Matthew.

- John Spiri

 

Matt served as Osaka JALT Program Chair this past year, and as an Osaka Chapter Members at Large before that. He served as one of the co-editors of the Pan-SIG proceedings, and was very active in the GILE SIG. Outside of JALT, Matt founded a charitable organization in Osaka called HATO that makes onigiri and gathers and distributes warm clothes for homeless in Osaka. He also helped organize and lead a group that went up to Tohoku over Golden Week to help elderly folks scrape the toxic muck out of their homes that had been washed there by the March tsunami, which reportedly was the most meaningful experience of his life. Matt was well loved by his students and a very wide circle of friends that he had made over more than 20 years of living in Japan.

- Bob Sanderson Osaka Chapter President

Tim Allan

Tim Allan, language teacher and peace educator, passed away at the age of 53 on June 8, 2011 in Nagasaki. Tim grew up in Toronto, Canada and began his Japan career in 1986 as a language teacher, trainer and program director in Shizuoka. In 1998, he took up a post at Kwassui Women's University and became President of the Nagasaki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). Tim’s academic interests centered on peace education, conflict resolution and Canadian literature. He was an active member of JALT’s Global Issues SIG and an expert on issues related to peace studies in Nagasaki. His peace education papers and presentations dealt with topics ranging from curriculum design and content-based teaching to critical materials evaluation and human rights education. Shortly before his death, Tim submitted his revised doctoral thesis in Applied Linguistics and Peace Studies to Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and had hoped to graduate in September. Tim will be sadly missed by his wife Keiko as well as by his family, friends, students and colleagues in Japan and around the world.

 

 

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Kip A. Cates, Tottori University, Koyama, Tottori City, JAPAN 680-8551
E-mail: kcates@gilesig.org Work Tel/Fax: 0857-31-5650
Website: http://www.gilesig.org Newsletter: www.gilesig.org/newsletter


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