the passing of Isabel Crook

Isabel Crook

Isabel Crook, a Canadian educator and a great friend of China, has died aged at 107. The unbelievable thing was that this morning, for some random reason, I mentioned her to a friend as we walked on Hampstead Heath. I couldn’t remember if she was still alive or not. My friend googled her and said: “Wow, she is 107 and obviously still alive!”

In the afternoon, he messaged me, saying she has died: when he wanted to read Isabel’s Wikipedia entry properly, he found the information has changed – she has passed away.

That was a piece of very sad news. Fortunately, Isabel lived a long and inspiring life. I interviewed her several times. I first interviewed her back in the early 90s when I presented a TV documentary for Beijing TV about foreigners’ Views on Chairman Mao. Then I just kept in touch. In the late 90s, I also interviewed her for the oral history of China, co-authored with my ex-husband. The last time I saw her – perhaps a dozen years ago – she was working on her PhD! She obviously stayed active right to the end, even attending an event two days before her death! What a remarkable life!

Here’s how China Daily reported her death. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/20/WS64e212b0a31035260b81d25e.html

Anyone interested in reading her chapter in China Remembers, feel free to get in touch.