We regret to inform that our friend and member of Path Press, Dr John Stella, passed away on 28th November 2014 in Gainesville, Florida USA, after suffering a massive stroke.
John Stella received an M.A. in English language and literature from Oxford University, a Diploma della Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana from Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy and a Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia. He was an Editorial Advisor for Mots Pluriels, an international journal of contemporary cultural, political, and ethical issues. He has also written extensively on the Dhamma and Western literature, contributing articles to diverse publications such as the Washington Buddhist, Forum Italicum, Rivista di Studi Italiani and the Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities.
His essay, “One, no one and One Hundred Thousand” was published as the final chapter of Reflections of the Dharma, edited by Dr. Sunthorn Plamitr (Chicago, 1990). Dr Stella’s book Self and Self-Compromise in the Narratives of Pirandello and Moravia (Peter Lang, 2000) incorporates Ven. Ñāṇavira’s approach to the Suttas to offer, additionally, a revolutionary interpretation of Pirandello & Moravia – two of the most significant authors of the twentieth century. John was also Research Associate of the School of European Languages, University of Western Australia, and a lecturer in Western Classics in the USA.
John contributed a Foreword & Introduction to two volumes of the Buddhist Cultural Centre’s edition of Ven. Ñāṇavira’s Clearing the Path, an Introduction “Scratching the Itch” for Ven. Bodhesako’s Beginnings, Collected Essays (BPS, 2008), and an essay “The Mind in Progress” as a chapter for Ven. Hiriko Ñāṇasuci’s book The Hermit of Bundala (PPP, 2014). He was an Editorial Advisor for Path Press and an editor of Ven. Bodhesako’s books.
On 30th September John suffered a massive stroke from which he never recovered. Our thoughts are with his brother Fred and his family, and John’s girlfriend.
John will be greatly missed by many friends and all of us who worked with him at Path Press. He will be remembered as someone who had a great interest in Dhamma and developing the right-view, which he shared in his very interesting and engaging writings. We are very grateful for all that he has done.
May the merit of John’s life and work bring him good fortune in his new abiding.
Path Press Committee
Some of John Stella’s essays:
Scratching the Itch – text
Review of ‘Notes on Dhamma’ – text
Review of Ven. Ñānavīra’ Letters after 1960 – text
More essays can also be found here.