Dear Friends,
 

Our beloved friend Ann Sharp z"l died on July 1st at her home in Chiapas, Mexico. Ann was a dear friend and colleague, her passing leaves a hole in our lives and in our spirit. We will miss her sorely.

Ann loved her time with us in Israel over these past few years, and we were indeed honored and enriched by her presence with us through these visits. Ann truly believed in the power of philosophy to improve children's lives and to build a better society. This was her dream too for philosophy for children in Israel and East Jerusalem. Ann was generous and funny, often outrageous and yet at the same time finely attuned to what the moment required of her. Ann dedicated her life to children, to education, and to all of us who found a home in the Philosophy for Children community. I have an image of Ann with books piled up on all sides around her – those read, those being read and those still to be opened. She loved ideas. Amongst other things, Ann's voice added to Philosophy for Children a language of care, a concern with the emotions, relationality and the community of inquiry as education for democracy. She was an initiator and mentor, guiding so many of us on our educational paths and offering unconditional support along the way. She gave people the confidence to dream and the courage to make dreams a reality, and in the process left her mark on philosophy for children around the globe. She brought smiles to peoples faces wherever she went.

May her memory live long through our work,

Jen Glaser and Talya Birkhahn
Co-directors, Israel Center for Philosophy in Education – 'Philosophy for Life'
 

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