(Ted Bradshaw Continued from Page 1)

Ted was a superb community development educator.  His students worked in urban and rural settings as part of class assignments.  They were more than passive observers but incorporated the Society’s principles of Good Practice in their work.  They learned first hand about the capacity building and solidarity.  Ted also challenged his students to think creatively and to build upon current theories with their own grounded experiences. His students were drawn to him by his consuming passion for community development, his openness and willingness to be a co-learner.

Ted Bradshaw admired many qualities in others: the ability to have fun; kindness; awe of the world; and creativity.  Those qualities were part of what our community development colleagues liked about Ted.  He had a delightful wit.  For example, at the 1996 Community Development Society conference in Australia, a rain forest tour guide remarked that cockatoos can live 100 years or longer.  Ted’s quip drew laughter: “In that case, they’re probably the only species that can regard humans as pets.”  His frequent laughter and the twinkle in his eye reminded others not to take themselves too seriously.  In recent years, he discovered “Old Vine” Zinfandels and always brought bottles to community development events for others to enjoy and as backdrop for intense conversation.

Ted believed in the asset-based approach to community development.  It wasn’t an intellectual process; it was visceral and part of his core being.  He found strength and hope in individuals and communities when others were cynical; his civility, sensitivity and good manners were consistent.

Ted Bradshaw was driven by his intellectual curiosity, contagious enthusiasm and awe about the world as one might find in an inquisitive three year old.  As the proverbial learner and educator, he asked questions and always listened.   He encouraged and nurtured others to express themselves and their own wisdom, especially through writing.

There is so much to say about the hyphen between Ted’s birth and death; it is difficult to reach the depth of his personality in this simple epitaph.  Through large and small gestures, his impact on our field has been tremendous.  Gerard Manley Hopkins, the poet, wrote about the “dearest freshness deep down things.”  Ted had an awareness of this “dearest freshness deep down” and sensitized us to it.  We have been graced by Ted Bradshaw as a community development colleague, teacher and friend.  His influence as our editor lives on.

Ted's burial occurred Thursday morning, 17 August 2006  at St. Mary's Cemetery in Oakland. A funeral Mass was held at 2 p.m., Friday, 18 August at Newman Hall near the UC-Berkley campus.
The mass was followed by a reception on the campus.

Ron Hustedde
Associate Editor
University of Kentucky

Ted K. Bradshaw, Ph.D.
Editor: Community Development:
Journal of the Community Development Society