Written by Chun-yi Lee.
Image credit: Trent Building Clocktower, University of Nottingham by Shamraze/Nuhaize, license: CC BY 2.0.
Prof. Ian Inkster passed away on August 2nd 2023, peacefully with his family beside him in his house in Nottingham.
I first saw Ian in one of the Taiwan Studies Program (TSP)’s activities; I thought Prof. Inkster was a serious but friendly Professor. The seriousness of him presented in the questions that he asked to the speaker of that event (I have to confess that I don’t remember precise questions), but he had such a big smile after the QA and friendly talking. For me (as the event holder) realised that Ian was not a ‘picky audience’, but a curious one. This curiosity, I believe, supported and motivated him throughout his life, and that is what I respect him the most. Ian was such an established scholar. In my brief time of knowing him, he kept the original curiosity as any student who started their academic journey. This short and quite personal piece is only to remember Ian, whom I knew of, but this piece cannot represent his rich achievements in his academic career. I have to apologise again that I knew Ian relatively late, but it is my honour to know such a hard-working and warm scholar who strongly supports Taiwan.
I found Ian was a curious scholar once again in the event of Taiwan film screening tour – Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored on October 20th 2017. It was a screening of an old Taiwanese movie (made in 1958), and the language was in Taiwanese dialect. I didn’t expect to see Ian join us at the Broadway cinema in Nottingham city centre, but more so, he brought his wife Lesley to the theatre. My stereotypical thought was: How could they be interested in an old Taiwanese movie? But what Ian told me after the screening was that he wanted to see what Taiwan was like in that period, and Lesley, too. After all, Ian was a historian; that explained a lot. The movie itself was no doubt an interesting one. Still, there was a reflection I never told Ian; his participation (along with Lesley) in that event somehow gave me some encouragement to promote Taiwan studies in Nottingham.
My afterthought was understanding Taiwan was a wider subject than just understanding the tension of China-Taiwan relations or dynamic presidential elections in Taiwan; understanding Taiwan can also be delving into the nostalgia of Taiwan’s society, people, and beauty of sceneries. If the varieties of TSP’s activities can somehow trigger people’s interest in Taiwan, both in academics and public, then there is some space for promoting Taiwan studies in Nottingham. Ian and Lesley demonstrated their interest by joining the screening, and I appreciate that till today.
However, sometime after this event, I learned that Ian started battling Cancer in early 2018. I thought I would not hear from Ian that much because of his medical condition; again, I was wrong.
Ian’s support for Taiwan studies in Nottingham is expressed further on Taiwan Insight. Ian struck me as a constant writer; the speed, quantity and quality he wrote is what I respect the most. I am sure many of his close friends and acquaintances would receive his email from time to time to indicate his writing for the Taipei Times. Ian started to write for Taiwan Insight in September 2017, which was quite an early stage of Taiwan Insight. Between 2017 to 2023, he contributed twenty-three pieces for Taiwan Insight. His last contribution to Taiwan Insight was on May 26th 2023, about the visit of Liz Truss to Taiwan. Noted that throughout these years of his contribution to Taiwan Insight, on the one hand, he was writing pieces for Taiwan Insight; on the other hand, he was receiving chemotherapy. Of the twenty-three pieces, some were proposed by him, while others came at my invitation for Taiwan Insight’s special issues. Despite undergoing challenging chemotherapy treatments and battling a Covid infection last August–along with the ensuing complications from the chemotherapy–Ian consistently responded to my invitations. He often told me, “My piece might not be perfect; I’m full of chemicals right now.” I pictured him pushing through post-chemotherapy to work, and though I never wanted to burden him, he reassured me in our email exchanges, saying, “Distractions like blog writing keep me going.” As an editor, I have to say his arguments and insights are always lucid and sharp, though not similar to mine, but that was even better; he told me when we were preparing Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan’s special issue: ‘We all have different strengths, you, me, Taiwan, UK, even blasted USA!’
It was as if Ian’s writing sustained his spirit, helping him to overcome the physical pain and fatigue.
Ian knew of our Taiwan and World series, which aims to put Taiwan on the global map to link Taiwan to any discipline’s global context. Ian wrote to me to ask whether I would be interested in receiving a historical context of the book proposal in January 2023. My reply was: Yap! Historical context also counts. The key would be to connect Taiwan to the global history/map; as you know, I want to put Taiwan on the world map, no matter what kind of map and which time period of map ?.
The deep sorrow of never receiving another book proposal from Ian is everlasting. But I know in my heart that his influence will continue: his thoughts will inspire further contributions to Taiwan-related studies. Thank you, Ian. We learned so much from you when you were with us, both in person and through email communications, and we will keep learning from your writings every time we read your publications. And yes, I always, always give you my positive vibes!
Chun-yi Lee is an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham School of Politics and International Relations. She is the Director of the Taiwan Research Hub at the University of Nottingham and the Editor-in-Chief of Taiwan Insight.
