Univ. of Wisconsin
        <bernault@facstaff.wisc.edu>

CHRISTOPHER GRAY

Chris Gray's death is a great loss for African history, and
a very sad blow for his numerous friends in the profession.
Chris had told me about his illness last year, but, as his
friends and relatives, I hoped that he had won the battle
over cancer.

During the last ASA annual convention in Philadelphia, our
meeting was filled with hope and work.  We talked about his
chapter in the collection on the History of Prisons in
Africa, and about the book's translation in English.  In the
panel on the same topic, Chris discussed his research on
modern territoriality and colonial spatial closure in Gabon.
During the following Spring, we talked a number of times via
email, and I admired, as Phyllis Martin told me once, how
Chris was not missing a beat in his work.

During the summer, I left for field research in Gabon.  My
trip was filled with memories of Chris, of his love and
attachment for this country, and of hopes that he and his
family could return soon there.  Then, Fall bought the
terrible news of his illness flaring back again, and of his
death at a young age.  Chris has been so generous, so loyal,
and so present in my research, despite the physical distance
between Florida and Wisconsin, that I have a hard time
realizing that he passed away. Deep down, I know I will
never think of Chris as somebody who's gone for ever.  I
will continue to think of him as this special friend with
whom I can talk about my work, and Africa.

La mort de Chris Gray, ami et collegue tres cher, vient de
me surprendre et de m'attrister grandement, sentiment que je
sais partage par ses nombreux amis dans la profession. Chris
m'avait parle de sa maladie l'annee derniere, mais ses
proches et amis, moi incluse, partageaient l'espoir qu'il
avait vaincu le mal.

A la derniere convention du ASA, a Philadelphia, les
retrouvailles avec Chris s'etaient passees sous le signe de
l'espoir et du travail.  Nous avons discute de la parution
du livre sur l'histoire des prisons, de sa traduction en
anglais.  Chris est venu presenter sa recherche sur le
regroupement des villages au Gabon et l'enfermement colonial
de l'espace.  Au printemps suivant, nous nous sommes parles
plusieurs fois, via email, a propos de son chapitre et
d'autres projets sur l'histoire du Gabon.

A l'ete, je suis partie au Gabon ou j'ai souvent pense a
Chris, a son attachement pour ce pays, a ses sejours
frequents, a l'espoir qu'il y retourne bientot a l'affut de
quelque recherche de terrain, peut-etre accompagne de ses
enfants et de sa femme.  Et puis, il y a eu la terrible
nouvelle de la rechute dans la maladie, et la nouvelle de sa
mort si precoce.  Chris s'est toujours montre si loyal, si
genereux, et si present dans ma recherche, malgre
l'eloignement geographique entre la Floride et le Wisconsin,
que j'ai du mal a croire qu'il est parti.  D'ailleurs, je
crois que je ne penserai jamais a Chris comme a un absent,
mais toujours comme a l'ami attentif aupres duquel, dans mon
for interieur, je peux continuer a parler de mon travail et
de l'Afrique.

Chris Gray was Professor of African History at the
International University of Florida.  A specialist of Gabon,
where he went first as a Peace Corp volunteer, he earned his
Ph. D. at the University of Indiana-Bloomington under the
direction of Phyllis Martin.  His thesis examines African
concepts of space in Southern Gabon, and their resistance to
the colonial enterprise.  His publications include a book on
two preeminent African intellectuals and scholars
(Conceptions of History in the Works of Cheikh Anta Diop and
Theophile Obenga, 1989), a chapter entitled "Territoriality
and Physical Enclosure in Southern Gabon", in F. Bernault
ed., Enfermement, prison et chatiments en Afrique (1999),
and articles in History in Africa, and Islam et Societes au
Sud du Sahara.

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