Michael Berman (1951 – 2013)

Mojca Belak, Slovenia

There is no death, only a change of worlds. Chief Seattle

When his health deteriorated to the point that he was forced to stop teaching, he went on writing no matter how weak his heart was. Being tremendously hardworking, he continued to write about stories from around the world, often focusing on death, the topic that occupied his mind most. In March 2012 he published A Bridge to the Other Side; in it Michael explained that it is a book about death in the folk tradition, but in fact it is much more. It is a documented reflection about coming to terms with the approaching end of life of a gentle, sensitive person.

Michael and I met at a conference after a year of emailing. The usual exchange about his coming to my country to do a series of workshops developed into a more personal correspondence about life and spirituality. Judging by the wisdom that shone through what he wrote I imagined he was much older than he actually was, so seeing him in person for the first time was quite a surprise.

We kept in contact ever since, meeting regularly at IATEFL conferences in the UK, and exchanging emails. I sometimes asked his advice and we gave each other feedback. When I became editor of IATEFL Teacher Development SIG newsletter and searched for copy, he helped me by regularly sending his stories. That developed into long-term cooperation: his stories found a regular place on the last but one page of the newsletter.

A day before his 60th birthday he sent a few friends a ghazal by Rumi entitled When I Die. Later an email came explaining how bad his condition was. The vibrant IATEFL Glasgow conference passed without his taking part in it. Spring went by, and the summer. Modern technology made us possible to keep in touch even after he was moved to hospital. When he was on a drip, he would type emails with his one free hand. Electronic messages gave him a chance to express what he was going through. He miraculously recovered in the autumn 2012 and started writing again. Soon he sent another batch of stories to be published in IATEFL TD SIG newsletter, and later even submitted a proposal for the IATEFL Liverpool conference, but later felt too frail to travel up north. We sent him a card, a few of his friends, saying what we felt deeply: the conference just isn’t the same without you.

Now Michael’s heart stopped for good. ELT community lost a colleague, a prolific writer and a storyteller. I lost a friend.