William Sill’s Obituary
[Guest post by DRJ]
Former University of Texas lecturer William Sill died recently and his obituary was published in the Austin American-Statesman. I didn’t know Dr. Sill but his obituary is fascinating; He was a real-life Indiana Jones. These are my favorite parts:
“A study in gentle contrasts, Sill was dashing yet unassuming. He tirelessly pursued adventure but was insistent upon sharing the fruits of his discoveries.
“Dad never made much money,” Bill Sill said. “He was disinterested in fame, or money, or significant scientific recognition. He very much tried to hide from the limelight. But he always had these adventurous notions.”
***
In his last years, Sill would tell his 12 grandchildren stories of his adventures, weaving in vivid stories of the flesh eaters whose bones Sill found, catalogued and studied.“He was like Indiana Jones. There are so many stories, so many things that he did,” Bill Sill said. “It’s a hell of a thing to be his son.”
That’s a fine obituary.
— DRJ
I have read that this guy is often called the “real” Indana Jones. My personal candidate is Richard Halliburton who wrote adventure books for kids when I was growing up. His life ended in a spectacular way as he is thought to have been captured and killed by the Japanese because he discovered they were fortifying islands in the Pacific that they were not supposed to. He was sailing a junk across the Pacific at the time.
His book was reprinted as recently as 1984 but I wonder if kids still read those adventure books.
Mike K (86bddb) — 3/29/2008 @ 1:18 pmIndeed, quite an obit…and what a dashingly romantic photo of him, too.
Dana (fba430) — 3/29/2008 @ 1:43 pmI personally knew Dr. Sill and he was a fascinating individual. He would hold audiences captive for hours with stories that would otherwise bore most people to death. I have listened to him wondering how someone could hold so much information in one brain. It seems surreal that he is dead. He lived a thousand lifetimes in his short 70 years of life.
Poqui Moqui (e60090) — 3/30/2008 @ 5:51 pmA life well lived!
paul from fl (47918a) — 3/31/2008 @ 4:45 pmMi familia y yo conocimos bien a William Sill, y personalmente considero que su persona es un ejemplo a seguir. Aunque ya no está entre nosotros, sabemos que el ha cumplido con ‘su deber a Dios’, sabemos que está feliz por la vida que vivió, y que está listo para recibir nuevos desafios en este maravilloso viaje a través de la vida eterna. A Nelly y sus hijos, les dejamos todo nuestro amor.
Daniel Zambonini y toda la familia.
Familia Zambonini (1bae70) — 4/6/2008 @ 11:37 amGracias, Daniel y tu familia.
DRJ (a431ca) — 4/6/2008 @ 11:41 amI am proud to be William Sill’s nephew. Uncle Bill always fascinated me, the stories I heard growing up about him, and new ones I am still hearing. I only got to meet him and my cousins a precious few times, but those times are forever etched into my memory. It was great seeing so many of you at the funeral. Of course I wish I had had more times to be around him as he was always a great person to be around. But I am happy he was able to share his presence with the many people around the world. He bleesed the lives of who ever he spent any time with. We will miss you Uncle Bill…
Ron Sill (17a8af) — 4/8/2008 @ 12:23 pm