Harold Shadick 1902–1994

IN MEMORIAM Photo by Laurie Damiani, Cornell University HAROLD SHADICK 1902-1994 vi SOME THOUGHTS In principle, contribute a tithe. Absolute moral values in the family. Any deviation on my part would be a betrayal of my forebears and of my teachers. Good manners. Unlimited curiosity and desire to know. I used to dream of counting all the trees in the world. All the conifers in Canada. Absolute truth. Devotion to justice, fairness. To avoid taking more than my reasonable share of material things. Use up all fragments of soap - a legacy from Wei-hsien. Waste not - want not. From twenty years in China, I cannot tear the paper towels as our students do. Ten inches equals the limit. Every grain of rice must be eaten. Chinese scholars picked up discarded pieces of paper with characters on them as if they were sacred. Strong prejudice against betting, gambling, lotteries, of any kind. I don't believe in chance. Earn what you get. My religious observances and meditations have given moments describable as experience of the holy, the pure, the sacred. Respect for products of human and even animal labours . If the product is bad or vulgar, cover it, bury it, but don't destroy it. To destroy is to insult. To insult is to treat as less than a person, to undermine a person's pride. Do almost anything to avoid hurting a person's pride. Every one, every thing has value and is important and yet nothing is important, nothing has value. Achieve this view and you can remain sane. I want the world to be a little bit better for my having been in it. I want to avoid draining the resources of the world. My main charities: AmnestyInternational, Planned Parenthood. HAROLD SHADICK vii ...