...field but of many others as well. His statements about the nature of the field, published in the American Psychologist and the American Journal of Community Psychology over almost four decades, have become the conceptual exemplars of what community psychology can be. His emphasis on the interdependence of the process of conducting community research and the content of that research has helped reframe the basic community research paradigm. He has, in short, been responsible for many of the most distinctive contributions to behavioral science that community psychology has made.

In celebration of his retirement, the authors of this tribute organized an event honoring Jim Kelly at the eighth biennial meeting of the Society for Community Research and Action, which was held in June 2001 in Atlanta, and was organized by the Community Psychology program at Georgia State University. In preparation for the event, we sent out invitations to colleagues and friends of Jim to participate in the event or, if unable to do so personally, to send us comments about their perspective on Jim's many contributions to the creation and evolution of the field of community psychology. The tribute itself included comments from Jim's colleagues and friends, along with excerpts of the letters sent by those unable to attend. A videotape of the entire event is available through James Emshoff at Georgia State.

While the event itself was, for us, a lovely and moving occasion, we wanted to make available its spirit and contents to community psychology more broadly. The remainder of this paper is an effort to do just that. We have divided our documentation into two sections. The first consists of excerpts from the event itself, including remarks made by colleagues and parts of letters sent by those unable to attend who wanted to convey their respect for Jim's career. Here the emphasis is on the words of the participants as they commented on multiple and varied aspects of Jim's impact: as a scholar, a mentor, a colleague, and as a friend. The wide range of individuals represented here attests to the many additive ways in which Jim Kelly has cared about the field of community psychology and has contributed to its essence.

Next come comments from three community psychologists selected by Jim to write brief pieces: Dick Reppucci, Rhona Weinstein, and Julian Rappaport. Each mentions the influence of Jim on his or her career and on the development of the field. A final tribute comes from Ed Trickett, whose Ph.D. was completed under Jim's supervision and who took the opportunity provided by the tribute to reflect on some of the many ways in which Jim Kelly has not only been a profound personal influence but has set the bar of excellence for the field very high.

A TRIBUTE TO JIM KELLY, JUNE 2001

The tribute took place in June of 2001 at the Atlanta Biennial, and was attended by a wide variety of community psychologists across generations, from students new to the field to Jim's contemporaries, who reflected quite personally on their relationships with him. What follows is an attempt to capture the spirit of the afternoon tribute, as expressed through remarks made by colleagues and readings of letters sent by those unable to attend.

Tribute Contributions

The event was kicked off with an introduction by Bianca Wilson and Erin Hayes, two of the graduate students who worked with Jim at UIC. Bianca and Erin reflected on Jim's invaluable efforts to encourage rigorous scholarship while creating and protecting the needed space for graduate students to explore their personal and political connections to their work.

Speaking from another end of the spectrum of Jim's career, Bob Newbrough then talked about Jim's commitment to research: "One of the things that I appreciate very much was his commitment to bringing research into what was primarily a practice field." Bob listed a number of critical skills he had learned from Jim, which included working hard, doing good research, helping others, being scholarly, referencing everything, filing everything in a separate folder, circulating everything, and having a good sense of humor.

Though Seymour Sarason was not able to attend the biennial, his thoughts and feelings about Jim were expressed in a letter read by Ed Trickett. Seymour emphasized his respect, admiration, and envy for Jim: "... Yes, envy. I say envy because I know of no community psychologist who more than he has alerted us to issues whose importance we have not and still do not consider as seriously as we should." Seymour went on to discuss how Jim "takes the concepts and theory of ecology seriously; they are not buzz words employed to make one appear a thinker of scope. In Jim's case they are employed as road maps before, during, and after an effort to understand, or intrude into, or change some aspect of the ecology." He talked about how Jim conveys his ideas to others: "His writings appear on the surface as diverse but when read and digested one discerns a unity of thought and purpose." Finally, about Jim's relationship with research participants, Seymour shared: "... No one more than Jim has so insistently been concerned with our relationship to the people from whom we derive what we call our data. And it is not happenstance that he has emphasized with whom we collect our data; he does not look at people as subjects but collaborators, partners; it is a relationship of mutual learning and obligations."

Julian Rappaport then talked about his experiences with Jim: "I have found Jim to be the most consistently and theoretically sophisticated and intellectually compelling of my tutors." He recalled what his own advisor, Emory Cowen had said about Jim: there are "certain nuances of Kelly: special care and attention he brings to life circumstances important to others." Emory had pointed out Jim's "uncanny ability to adjust to multiple diverse groups and circumstances--his relaxed attitude, style--his ability to laugh at himself, his non-defensive way of interacting with others, and his humility." Julian reflected on how he marveled at how Jim thought about things: "When I listen to Jim I always feel a sense of his own wonder at ideas and how much fun he is having thinking, and when he listens to others I always have a sense of Jim's appreciation of others." Julian talked about what he had learned from Jim: "Jim has taught me about: ecological constraints, antidotes for arrogance, radiating effects, and boundary spanning. He's taught me that it ain't what you do, but the way that you do it. He's given me concepts about structure and process and he's taken me on an ecological expedition. He taught me to seek new disciplinary connections and pluralistic methods, he's taught me about learning with others as opposed to assessing others; he's taught me to look for resilient and competent communities and how to value variety and diversity." Julian talked about Jim as an inspiration: "A person in whom I find a unique confluence of strongly held and expressed values, an intellectual excitement and a desire to know about people and their socially structured environment." And as a model: "We follow the intellectual trails you blazed."

Ed next read a letter from Jack Glidewell, an early and long-time colleague of Jim, who wrote about the central theme of Jim's work being: "It ain't what you do, it's the way you do it." Jack shared recollections of Jim's respect for his research partners, remembering Jim to have said during their first conversation: "We have a lot of data, maybe too much, and we have a great challenge to remember that each little bit of it represents a human being trying to cope (with) the tasks of growing up." This was Jack's "introduction...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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