If approriate, please share with Isidore's loved ones.
Yrs James
Isidore Okpewho was a warm and supportive colleague when I taught at the University of Ibadan, and I have learned of his death with great sadness.
Just a couple of memories. The first is of a man of great physical presence. I remember seeing him on the tennis-courts near the UI Staff Club, immaculate, impressive, a ‘picture of health’, a formidable player, a competitive athlete.
The second memory is of him describing a major turning point in his life. It was the moment, perhaps in the course of a viva for his Classics degree, when he was challenged about the intensive study undertaken into Classical (Latin / Greek) poetry and the general neglect of, to borrow the title of one of his major publications, ‘The Heritage of African Poetry’.
Others will have heard about that episode, and I am sure he wrote about it with details that my memory has not retained. Whatever the details, the exchange encapsulated a challenge that Isidore devoted a major part of his life to taking up. His response was reflected in many of his publications, papers and encounters with students.
Colleagues, students and readers are greatly indebted to Isidore Okpewho, and mourn his passing, the passing of a champion, a scholar, a teacher who took up a challenge.
James Gibbs .
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