[Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Death of Robert Shropshire

Fri Jun 1 05:01:37 PDT 2012

Am singing, sans Skype!

j'aime la vie
in China

-----Original Message-----
From: PSchrijnen <PSchrijnen at aol.com>
To: dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net>; oe <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Fri, Jun 1, 2012 3:38 pm
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Death of Robert Shropshire

My, these are beautiful fragments of a great life.

Can we all get on-line on a skype conference call and sing: "For all the saints...."  or maybe: "Free men live..."  ?

Paul

In a message dated 01/06/2012 07:37:09 GMT Daylight Time, jkjmbarker at bigpond.com writes:

REMEMBERING ROBERT SHROPSHIRE

Robert is remembered   with deep affection and gratitude by the Mowanjum community and all of us who   were there as staff in the Derby Religious House in the early 70's. His   presence in an Aboriginal community in the remote North West Kimberley region   of Australia caused far more attention than he was comfortable with. The press   were on to his presence - at first positive when a great photo appeared on the   front page of "The Northern Times" of him with the senior elder Micky Bunguni   in front of a new sign "Mowanjum Community - Mission to the World" together   with the wedgeblade. But later the same paper led a scare campaign with banner   headlines "Black Power comes to Derby!" Robert's response was to laugh at the   notion that he of all people should be considered a dangerous threat - after   all "I am only a cool school teacher". Some of our fond memories of Robert   are:

* such an empowering   and imaginative teacher especially of teenagers * introducing Aboriginal   people to music they had never heard before *  his delight in   embellishing the story of the great sheep drive (5,000 of them) including the   fact that they all got lost at the first attempt! * his coolness towards our   tight structures * both his eruptive anger at being treated "differently" and   his gratitude when people were straight with him * being followed around by   giggling school girls * the love of kids who called out "Shropshire, come   here" * his infectious laughter especially at the incongruence of situations   we were faced with * his zany sense of humour and apt comments when the going   was tough * introducing "right on" into the Indigenous vocabulary * his   liberating presence as a proud black man * singing along with the elder Wattie   Ngerdu's favourite song "Free men live in responsibility"  (Wattie could   sing but Robert???) - we could go on. People of Mowanjum will mourn his   passing  - and are sure to retell great Robert Shropshire   stories.

We also cherish our   opportunity to have caught up with him in the nineties in Chicago and have his   distinctive chuckle again etched into our memories - and yes, the Great Sheep   Drive was told once again!

We resonate with   Evelyn Philbrook where she says "I somehow feel he is some where laughing with the   Mystery expecting great things from us all to carry out God's unfinished   work."

Goodbye to a true   spirit colleague.

Jonathan and Janeen   Barker

On 31/05/2012, at 9:45 AM, George Holcombe   wrote:

Conna     Wilkerson told me that Robert died Tuesday night at his mother's home in     Chicago.  A service will be held for him on Saturday.     

Wanda and I will never forget Robert.  When he arrived at     Mowanjum, he was the star of the show, everyone thought he was the greatest.      Years later Robert and I had a great time playing music at the summer     programs.  I'm sure others of us have memories of Robert, too.

George     Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Mobile     512/252-2756
geowanda1 at me.com

Hope     appeareth, but it is not your Hope—you do not have anything to do     with it. It just appeareth. It comes as a stranger, as an alien—it     just appeareth! You do not even know why you hope. How in the     world could you hope when there is absolutely nothing to justify     any hope?    ~Joseph W.     Mathews

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