by Uta Papen and Karin Tusting

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Professor David Barton, lifetime director of the Literacy Research Centre, passed away on 18^th October 2024. A fuller tribute will follow in time. For now, we wanted to share some personal memories.

David was that rare combination of a colleague and friend who was inspiring, smart and thoughtful as well as generous, empathetic, incredibly kind and often funny. His enthusiasm for his work translated into a way of talking and sharing ideas with others, remarkable for its eloquence as much as its intellectual depth. Literacy studies was his academic passion, but his interest in people’s reading and writing practices and what they mean for the individual, the community and wider society wasn’t purely academic. He showed us how being a literacy researcher was also a way of life and a way of thinking. He was always looking around for ‘literacy events’: for anything noteworthy and remarkable that people did in their everyday lives and that involved some form of engaging with text.

We have benefitted greatly from his knowledge, wisdom, kindness and generosity. He helped both of us enormously, particularly at the beginning of our careers as researchers at Lancaster University. I, Uta, still remember him passing on to me his module booklet in its entirety when I took over his MA module in literacy studies. He made sure he was available throughout the ten weeks to answer questions and check how I was getting on, even though he was beginning a new role involving constant trips to London in his new smart grey suit to begin his work with the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). His support really eased my fears about what students might think when they learned it was me teaching them, and not the eminent Professor David Barton!

We both co-authored and co-edited with him and had the great pleasure of sharing ideas and putting them in writing in jointly crafted papers and books. I, Karin, remember how he would start a conversation with “Don’t you think it might be fun to do something on …”, then somehow six months later we would be organising a conference, submitting a research proposal or signing a book contract. He had a way of believing in your capacity to do things which made you never doubt it yourself, coupled with an unfailing sense of positivity and hope.

David was a generous collaborator, taking time to discuss ideas and always offering constructive feedback. Meetings with him were engaging and fun, more often than not there would be tea and cakes. There was always discussion, reflection and mutual engagement with ideas. There was time for jokes as well as for serious debates and we have the fondest memories of the Literacy Research Centre’s regular cake competitions, which David was always happy to organise.

We count ourselves lucky and privileged to have known him, worked with him and had him as a friend. He shaped our lives, along with many others, as well as our thinking. He is greatly missed.