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Vale Ruby Langford Ginibi

Submitted by gespak on Thu, 06/10/2011 - 09:10.

Please read the comments for information on donations. Thank you!

The sad news about about the passing of Dr. Ruby Langford Ginibi was shared with us by Oliver Haag (see below). His email then generated messages of sympathy (not quoted here) as well as the call you will read below. Thank you!  /Gabi Espak/

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It is with great sadness that I heard about the death of Dr. Ruby Langford Ginibi, 77-year-old Bundjalung historian and political activist. Never having received formal university education, Dr. Langford Ginibi documented Australian Aboriginal History from deeply personal experiences, eventually becoming one of Aboriginal Australia's most well-known historians and writers. I remember Dr. Langford Ginibi as a helpful, warm and witty person and I will never forget her humour and kindness. I think Dr. Ginibi deserves a special place in our memory and I thought it is perhaps a good sign that European Australian Studies scholars acknowledge this remarkable woman in some way. Perhaps we can name a lecture after her (for example, one of the keynotes at the biennial EASA conferences) or a prize or whatever; or those of us who knew her in person—or just enjoyed her writing—can put together a few paragraphs in tribute of her etc. Whatever you think appropriate, I think we should acknowledge her extraordinary life—also in Europe. What do you say? /Oliver Haag/

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Dear Oliver,
This is great.  Aunty would so have appreciated a memorial lecture.
However, can I alert you to a more pressing issue?
Aunty was saving for her funeral, but had only raised $7800 towards the cost.  There is a shortfall of $13200:  this amount is currently on the credit card of Prof Suvendrini Perera of Curtin University in WA.  We are urgently seeking donations of money toward the funeral expenses.
If the European Australian Studies scholars would like to assist in addressing this debt, could they please contact Professor Perera?  I've cced her in to this email.
I've also attached a media release that Prof Perera and I put together.
Kind Regards,
Linda /Dr Linda Westphalen/

(Suvendrini Perera's contact is: S.Perera [at] curtin.edu.au)

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Submitted by gespak on Mon, 10/10/2011 - 11:09. 
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Dear Friends of Auntie Ruby Langford Ginibi, CALL for HELP

Submitted by gespak on Fri, 07/10/2011 - 08:59. 
Dear Friends of Auntie Ruby Langford Ginibi, 

I returned late last night from the funeral of our beautiful friend who
 inspired us all so much. As you may have heard, her condition became
 serious during a period of 8-9 hours last Sunday night. She had been
 quite her usual self a couple of days before when I spoke to her before
 leaving for a conference in KL. In fact, she was looking forward to my
 bringing her back a dictaphone on my return so she could keep writing.
 She told me that she had written 10 stories by hand while at the nursing
 home. 
 

The conditions following her death were very distressing as there was
 considerable difficulty among her family members. Auntie Ruby had
 $7,800 in her funeral fund and the family were seeking an additional
 $13,200 so that she could be buried in her own plot. It was imperative
 that the funeral take place on Wednesday because Thursday and Friday
 were the birthdays of two of her children and they didn't want her to be
 buried on their birthdays.  


I wanted Auntie Ruby to be buried with dignity and the only way I could
 achieve this was to guarantee the cost of her funeral myself. I feel I have
 taken out a redraw on our mortgage in order to fund the funeral. 


Joseph Pugliese, Linda Westphalen and I have been lobbying federal
 and state government authorities to help with the expenses as Auntie
 Ruby was a national figure and in our view deserved a state funeral.
 The response so far hasn't been encouraging, but we will keep trying. 


I also appeal to academics and students of  Auntie Ruby's writing to
 contribute financially to the cost of her funeral. Considering how much
 she gave us all, this is a chance to give something back. 


If you would like to send me a cheque, my postal address is below.
 I will keep an account of whatever donations I receive, to be included
 in a memorial volume for Auntie Ruby that some of us have been
 discussing.  Please feel free to forward this message to colleagues
 and institutions who may be willing to help. 
     

Thanks, 

Suvendi 

Prof. Suvendrini Perera

School of Media, Culture & Creative Arts

Curtin University

GPO Box U1987, 

Perth, WA 6845. 

 

 

 

Professor Suvendrini Perera
BA (Sri Lanka) PhD (Columbia, NY)
Coordinator, Research and Creative Production & Graduate Studies
School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts (MCCA) 
Deputy Director, Australia-Asia-Pacific Institute (AAPI)

Curtin University
Tel |  

Email |  
Web | http://curtin.edu.au  
         | http://research.humanities.aapi.edu.au/centres/aapi  
Australia-Asia-Pacific-Institute
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