Brian Sutton-Smith (1924–2015)

Abstract

Brian Sutton-Smith, one of the leading scholars of play studies for more than half a century, passed away Mar 7, 2015, in White River Junction, Vermont, at the age of 90. From his active childhood to his highly productive career and retirement, Brian took play very seriously. After identifying the triviality barrier that keeps adults from taking children's play seriously, he put a huge amount of energy into breaking down that barrier. Like the anthropologist Margaret Mead, he achieved remarkable success in reaching both the public and scholars across the disciplines: folklorists, psychologists, anthropologists, and others. He was also an extremely kind, generous colleague whose sheer exuberance made interdisciplinary play studies great fun. As an active member of the American Folklore Society and the Anthropological Association for the Study of Play, Brian had a strongly positive influence on conferences and publications.