[H] Chris Ellithorp, RIP

[homeopathy-bounces@homeolist.com]

This rough draft of an editorial/obituary for HT, will tell you all a
bit more about Chris and his amazing contributions to homeopathy.

JW

****
Our Homeopathic Heritage

With a heavy heart, I report the death of long-time homeopathic
supporter and personal friend Chris Ellithorp on March 17, 2004 at
age 57.
Chris was one of those folks who toiled for homeopathy so far behind
the scenes that few knew him.
Born in Schenectady, NY May 5, 1946, he had a degree in archeology
with emphasis on museum work. For the last 25 years he worked in
direct care for the Lexington Center, a community facility for the
mentally and physically handicapped.

Chris had learned of homeopathy in the early 1970s and became
fascinated with its rich heritage. He attended the National Center
Summer school on several occasions.
I first met Chris in 1982 when I visited him at his home and library
in Johnstown, NY. We were instant friends. We shared the love of
things homeopathic, and the amazing literature and ephemera that
homeopathy can call its own.
He understood the minutae of it all. As I mention in my book "The
Faces of Homeopathy", Chris was a "book magnet." Somehow things found
there way to him. He had the two volumes of Dunham's writings-- both
signed by Ellis Santee, a pupil of E. B. Nash, and the inventor of
the "Santee Potentizer." The books came into his possession two years
apart, from sources that were 400 miles distant from each other. It
was as if once he got one, and the other was drawn to it. He had the
only copy I have ever seen of J. T. Kent's rare book, "Sexual
Neuroses." He found it at a used book store in Johnstown, NY, where
he lived. It made its way to him.
When I was working on "Faces of Homeopathy" Chris not only provided
me with many of the photos and biographies, but also the signatures I
appended to the photos. I could not locate a signature of Margaret
Tyler. No one in England seemed to have one. Chris did.
He was selfless for homeopathy. At the time of his death he was busy
scanning all the International Hahnemannian Association Transactions
for inclusion in Encyclopedia Homeopathica.
We traded books and ephemera. One of my prize possessions is a medium
sized, two drawer wooden cabinet with a glass top. Etched on the
glass is the name of Humphreys Pharmacal. This was an early 1900s
dispensing cabinet for a pharmacy. It is in mint condition. I
recently saw one on e-bay that sold for $4,000. Chris gave mine to me
as a "thank you" for all the stuff I had given to him over the years.

For years, all our communication was by phone or regular mail. His
letters were all neatly typed on an old portable "Corona" typewriter
that sat on his equally old oak desk with the equally old green
shaded lamp. It was only in the last few years that he joined the
world of e-mail.

Although he claimed to not be a practitioner, the few times he was
asked about remedy suggestions in hard cases, his replies were always
spot on.

On my summer visits to his large, rambling house in Johnstown, we
would often take sandwiches, go to a nearby cemetery, and sit by the
grave of Edward Bayard, one of the grand homeopaths of the New York
area who was a friend of Hering.
He and I shared that unique quality of, as the repertory says on page
33, "Talking, as with dead people."
In his quiet presence, it all came alive.
We bemoaned the fact that, these days, few are interested in the rich
heritage we have. Most of those interested in homeopathy only want to
"find the remedy." Some understand the treasures of the books. Few
understand the richness upon which the whole edifice is built-- the
paper trail of letters from homeopaths, invoices written in a flowing
script from Boericke and Tafel from the 1870s, photographs of old
homeopaths never seen before... all that "stuff." If it wasn't for
those few like Chris, who DO understand the richness, we would have
lost a good number of our treasures that are the "worldly remains" of
that great history.

There are few who have taken it upon themselves to unselfishly
preserve our heritage. The two largest collections in the USA (after
I moved my collection with me to New Zealand) were those of Chris
Ellithorp and Bill Kirtsos. They are, in many ways, superior to the
collection at the Smithsonian. And they are certainly looked after
with more personal love and affection.

A number of years ago, the country singer George Jones, bemoaning the
commercialization of the music industry, and the death of so many
great performers like Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Roy Acuff,
asked in a song:
"Who's gonna fill their shoes?
Who's going stand so tall?"

The question might well be asked of our homeopathic heritage.
In Chris, I found a brother. I will miss him dearly.
He leaves his wife Theresa, and a 13-year-old son, Samuel Hahnemann Ellithorp.
What he brought to homeopathy in the USA was inestimable.
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