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BORN
August 04, 1927
DIED
April 30, 2016
FUNERAL HOME
Kate Stevens Obituary
Although she originally studied Physics (at a time when that was a very non-traditional area of study for women) she came to realize that Physics was not the field in which she was most interested. Inspired by Ezra Pound's translation of Confucian classics, Kate started teaching herself Chinese in her spare time. In Kate's words: "It was wisdom and fun; physics was abandoned".
In the course of her academic career she attended Smith College, University of Minnesota, Columbia University, and Yale University, where she received the two Ford Foundation Grants which enabled her to go to Taiwan to study traditional Chinese performance art and storytelling, becoming perfectly fluent in Chinese. She received her PhD in Chinese Studies at Harvard and became a professor of Chinese Literature at the University of Toronto in 1966. There she taught and inspired many students.
While at the University of Toronto, Kate made several research trips to China to study with and record some of China's superb singer-tellers. She also studied at the Storytellers School of Toronto and joined 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling.
Upon retirement in 1986, Kate's love of the ocean and the wilderness brought her to Victoria where she was able to devote herself to gardening, birding and supporting many environmental causes. She was a longtime supporter of Wildwood, the sustainable forestry project near Ladysmith BC.
But story-telling became her main focus and Kate became one of Victoria's best -known storytellers. She was the first to receive a Lifetime Membership in the Victoria Storytellers Guild. Her Chinese clapper tales were described as "mesmerizing" and she is credited with expanding the group's storytelling horizons by bringing fascinating national and international story-tellers to Victoria to give workshops and performances.
Kate also had a national reputation as a storyteller and was the first to be chosen for the Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada StorySave project, which records the stories of our elders.
Kate's last years were spent quietly at Parkwood Court. She is survived by her sister Elizabeth (Betty) Richardson and her family, her brother William (Bill) Stevens Jr and his family, and her many friends in the Victoria area, across Canada, and around the world.
Memories and Condolences
for Kate Stevens
23 Entries
Mary Anderson
May 29, 2016
Kate Stevens was a remarkable woman a great teacher, a visionary and true eccentric.
In the late 60s, Kate was my then husband Bill's thesis director and friend.
Like others on these pages, I have strong memories of late October gatherings in her modest Toronto backyard around a bubbling hot pot. If anyone from the PRC happened to make it to Toronto, they too would find their way to Kate's living room, and all her students and friends were invited over to meet them. I have Kate to thank for encouragement she gave Bill and I to go to Taiwan where she had lived for a number of years so that Bill could do more language training. It was a life changing journey.
Upon our return we learned that from sources in Mainland China Kate had received 3 modern revolutionary tales each presenting ethical and moral dilemmas resolved with humour and elegance. Kate convinced her best students to translate the three tales from Chinese to English. She then announced that we would all become charter members of the China-Canada Friendship Society Ballad Troupe and quickly committed us to performing them in libraries and community centres around Toronto. I was handed Learning From Bethune, a bamboo clapper tale. I was not even one of her students, but it was I was not about to say no to Kate. The highlight of our small troupe's career was a performance we gave for the first ambassador from the People's Republic of China to Canada in the early seventies.
Like most, I knew very little about Canadian Dr. Norman Bethune, his many surgical innovations and inventions, his medical artistry, his pioneering work in Spain in 1936 organizing a blood bank and transfusion operation. I knew less about his selfless work as part of the Canadian-American Medical team in China as advisors to the 8th Route Army. I was not aware of the great respect that Mao had for Bethune and that Chinese people still have for the selfless and practical role he played in Chinese history, or that thousands of tourists travel each year to Gravenhurst Ontario to see the house where he was born. I have Kate to thank for this introduction and lesson in politics.
For me the Chinese bamboo clapper tale about Norman Bethune's work in China in 1938-9 is as fresh and moving today as it was when I first learned and performed it to those incredulous audiences in Toronto over 35 years ago. The story describes Bethune's arrival at an Eighth Route Army camp. The Chinese are deeply impressed with his modesty and his dedication to their cause. The climax of the story comes when Bethune lies down beside a wounded soldier to have his blood transfused directly into the young Chinese man.
I have Kate to thank for handing me this powerful reminder of one person's willingness to help others across the globe, a fine example of international humanitarianism. I have often referred to it over the years for inspiration, but I have always been reluctant to share it. Perhaps you can imagine that a certain portion of our audiences back then were, and probably even would be today, taken aback by words like comrade and class feeling as the tale told of Bethune's arrival at an Eighth Route Army camp and his getting right to work saving lives. I fear the tale would not be recognized for what it was, a fine example of the power of art, music and traditional cultural forms to serve, enlighten and help sustain movements for social change. For that reason I rarely performed but referred to it often for private inspiration.
An opportunity to share it came in 2014. My friend and neighbour David Pellettier was commissioned to create the bronze statue of Norman Bethune that now sits on Queen's Queen's Park Crescent near the entrance to the U of T Medical School. The commission for the statue was as part of an endowment by two Chinese business men to support students inspired by the work of Norman Bethune. David passed on information about the tale and the organizers of the Gala event managed to unearth not only the long version of the tale written in Chinese script, but also a talented talented young East Asian Studies student named Ephraim Klamph who performed it to perfection in Chinese at the unveiling of the statue.
This was just one instance of the manner in which I am sure the legacy of Kate's commitment to the power of story will continue to grow and inspire. And I thank her other family and friends for sharing all of their similar stories on these pages. If you you like a copy of the tale I would be happy to send it.
Mary Anderson
[email protected]
Daniel Savard
May 27, 2016
I have met Kate in 1988 in Toronto. I was then 12 years old. I was part of a school exchange program between a school in Toronto and mine in Tadoussac Quebec.
As the parents of my school mate had no room for an extra person, I was sent to live with Kate for 14 days.
She was living on Carlton St back in the days.
It has been an awesome experience to meet her. She was kind and very good to me.
I stayed in contact with her since then. I have sent her Christmas card almost every year since 1988. I guess my next card won't make it.
I'm very sad about this news, but she had a great life. You will be missed Kate.
Sheila and Greg Whincup
May 26, 2016
Kate was one of Greg's first professors of Chinese Literature at University of Toronto. She was an enthusiastic and skillful teacher who inspired love and knowledge of everything Chinese.
More than that, she was warm and open to her students as people. When Greg and I met and I first came to Toronto, she was among the first people to whom he introduced me.
After we married, we went to live in England where Greg did graduate work. Upon our return to Toronto, with no job or home, she readily opened her large rambling house in Cabbagetown to us, sharing a couple of rooms with no need for us to say when we'd be able to pay rent or how long we would stay.
In those two years of co-habitation, we learned much from Kate, including how to dive into cooking Chinese food without fear of failing; how wonderful it is to canoe trip in Algonquin and Temagami; how to participate in a food co-op; and how to perform clapper tales in a Chinese Performing Arts Troop.
And we weren't the only students she welcomed into her home. We will always remember her open-heartedness and admire her open-mindedness.
We moved on to Vancouver Island, and were delighted when one summer after retiring she came to Victoria to house-hunt, and bought the first house she saw!
We enjoyed many visits with her at Lorne Terrace, picking strawberries from her raised beds, kibitzing on her latest carpentry project, learning about her Non-Violent Communication group, and photographing the glacial runnels along the rocky coast for a story she was planning called: "Where I Live".
She hated leaving her home, and although her time at Parkwood was not entirely to her liking, it was a quiet time and she seemed at peace,
Farewell, dear Kate.
Sheila and Greg Whincup (Sooke, BC)
May 23, 2016
In 1995 when I was completing a season of Chinese exercises, Kate was introduced as our surprise guest. This was my introduction to storytelling !!! With a soft click, she opened her tale and we all sat in silence until a click closed her telling.We had all been transported to another place.
This was the beginning of storytelling becoming a vital part of my life.
Dorothy Tubman ( Victoria B.C. )
Cody Poulton
May 20, 2016
I knew Kate since I was an undergraduate in East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, and later I too found myself out on the west coast, teaching at the University of Victoria. I lost track of her in the last couple of years, but I always remember her as gentle and generous with, of course, a great knack of telling a story. She will very much be missed!
Hua Wu
May 19, 2016
Kate was a family friend. In September 1985 I came to Toronto to pursue graduate studies at the University of Toronto, she became my landlady. She always rent out a room in her Old Cabbage Town house to a Chinese student, charging a nominal rent (I remember my rent was $70!). She had a well-kept vegetable garden in her small backyard. I helped out with the gardening, sometimes doing backbreaking work that reminded me of my years working in the field as an educated youth back in China, but what I did most was harvesting. I still remember the sweet, juicy tomatoes we ate. Kate loved the environment and she recycled way before recycling became popular and mandatory. I remember Kate and I carrying newspapers and bottles to one of the few recycling bins in Toronto. She loved storytelling most. She took me to the 1001 Friday Nights and her stories at that gathering were always the best. Kate loved cats and so I told her a story about Judge Bao and the cat, a folktale my father told me when I was a kid and a story his grandmother told him when he was young. Kate rewrote the story and told it at the 1001 Friday Nights. The Magic Cat became part of her Chinese story repertoire. I have so many fond memories of my early years in Canada and Kate is one of the dearest friends and mentors who will always have a spot deep in my heart. Love you, dear Kate!
Robert E. Hegel
May 18, 2016
Kate was one of the most positive people I've met; she clearly loved her field and happily shared her enthusiasm. She was a rare and inspiring person.
Diane Blair
May 17, 2016
Kate was my aunt, my mother's sister. We grew up knowing her as Catherine, and she most definitely was a very cool, eccentric and interesting woman. I cannot say enough how happy it makes me to read all of the comments honoring her work, passion, commitment and zest for life. My mother and uncle will miss her, as we all do, and we are so grateful for those who were in her life in Canada.
Lawrence Crason
May 16, 2016
May 15, 2016
We met with Kate in her home. She served us tea and cookies. She shared her wonderful storytelling talents. She shared her love of Chinese culture. She will linger in our memories.
Thank you Kate!
Larry and Maryellen Crason
Sacramento, California
Penny Draper
May 11, 2016
I met Kate when she joined the Victoria Storytellers Guild. We were both newcomers: I had just arrived from Prince George and Kate from Toronto. The first story I heard her tell was about her sense of place, and it overwhelmed me. She marvelled that she could stand over a great fissure in the earth, each foot on a different geological plate and feel so at home. To an uprooted newcomer, this was an inspiration. The rhythm of the clapper, the singsong voice, the intensity of the language; it was from her that I learned how to hear beyond the words.
Thank you, Kate, for your stories, for all your notes on shadow puppetry, and for tolerating my driving. You have left behind an enormous legacy.
Janna schultz
May 10, 2016
Kate was an elder for me when I joined the Victoria Storytellers Guild in 1993,sharing with me the story of :"How the Animal Years Were Chosen". Our Canadian family includes a Chinese Canadian adopted daughter and her Chinese Canadian godmother was gifted by us with stuffed toys representing those animals when she became a grandmother. With the passage of years those twelve 'stuffies' came back to us for our great grandchildren to play with and were being enjoyed this very past week-end in our home. Thanks for the memories Kate, Janna
May 9, 2016
Memories from a member of the Victoria Storytellers' Guild:
As I recall, Kate came to us right after retirement from the University of Toronto where she had taught Asian Studies. There she had been a member of the Toronto storytelling group with its weekly gatherings called, 1001 Friday NIghts of Storytelling, and had studied at the Storytellers School of Toronto. This was far more than any of us had experienced in our fledgling group. She began to shape us up right away by establishing a bank account for us instead of having someone just holding on to the money tossed in a hat each meeting. It turns out that that was done not a moment too soon, but that's another story! She brought fascinating storytelling friends to town who would perform, give workshops and extend our storytelling horizons. Among them was charming Japanese Kazuko who accompanied her stories with the biwa, a stringed instrument, and Jan Andrews who, with the Odyssey, began the tradition of annual performances of classical sagas told over several days. Kate was the first to receive Lifetime Membership with the Victoria Storytellers Guild and the first to be chosen nationally to have her stories recorded for posterity .
It was Kate who persuaded us to hold annual retreats with a view to helping us get to know each other better. We did that for years, though Kate never came herself! She was generous in offering her small home near the Chinese cemetery (where else?) for special gatherings. A superb teller of Chinese and Japanese stories, she accompanied some of them with wooden or metal 'clappers' held between her fingers, a traditional technique used to attract an audience in a small marketplace or to keep the rhythm of the story. Sometimes she would briefly tell us the story in English and then fully in Chinese, a rich experience for us all.
One of my best memories of Kate was at an annual picnic held at my home on Prospect Lake. Her face lit up when she spotted my kayak, she jumped into it and paddled off with gusto, looking ten years younger. In memory, she was back to her younger days in New England. This was a Kate none of us had seen before and we delighted in her pleasure.
Pat Carfra
Louise Profeit-LeBlanc
May 9, 2016
I remember her so well when she attended the Yukon International Storytelling Festival. Indeed her knowledge of Chinese stories will long be remembered and cherished. Prayers for the journey of her radiant soul and spirit in the next world.
With love and affection dear Kate!
Louise Profeit-LeBlanc
Cathryn Fairlee
May 9, 2016
Kate Stevens was a generous and skilled mentor, and an inspiration for my Master's Degree in the History of Chinese Professional Teahouse Telling. I will never forget her.
Susan Charters
May 9, 2016
Kate was generous with her advice and enthusiasm when I called her out of the blue years ago to ask about a Chinese wolf story. A few moments after we hung up, she called me back. She'd found another story, and translated it to me over the phone. Years later, when we met briefly, her first question was, "What are you going to do with that story?" I promise, I'll use it with respect for her wide knowledge and generosity.
Yuanli Cai
May 7, 2016
80
Shi Qingzhao, Kate Stevens, this is a name that all those in the field of Chinese Performing Arts are familiar with, a foreign soul mate respected by all. Shi Qingzhao, my dearest friend, I wish you Farewell, your voice and smiling face, the sound of your bamboo clappers, your storysinging voice, all are forever in our hearts. Rest in peace. Cai Yuanli
Chengjie Bao
May 7, 2016
Kate
Kate has passed on. Yet another person who loved me has left. Her own studies on the art of Chinese oral narrative performance have been a powerful force, motivating my own research. I love her. Her fighting spirit will go on forever. Bao Chengjie
Lynda Howes
May 7, 2016
Today I am thinking of Kate.
I live in Toronto. Kate resided here, and was an active member of our storytelling community for many years before she retired to Victoria to live by the sea at the foot of a Chinese cemetery.
It was Kate whom I first invited in the early 1980s to offer a house concert in my home. It is from that concert many of us realized that our preferred way of telling and listening to stories was in small, intimate groups.
Recently I had occasion to look through some paper files, and found a Chinese story I had asked her to help me with. The story is The Porcelain God by Lafcadio Hearn. Kate did so much research on my behalf, that it filled pages and pages, much of the research written in Chinese.
Kate was a woman who brooked no nonsense. I remember visiting her for the first time at her cottage. We were on the phone. She was giving me instructions as to how to find her place. I was wanting to confirm her instructions by repeating them. But Kate interrupted me, Do you want to find your way to my place or not! and she continued with her instructions.
The few visits I made to Victoria, I spent a morning or afternoon with Kate climbing over the rocks by the shore and admiring the seals sunning themselves in the early morning light. A neighbour's dog often joined us, and near the end of our meander, we said goodbye to the dog, the neighbour called out a thank you to Kate. The dog had had a satisfying walk with his friend, Kate.
I miss Kate. I have missed her for many years, and now her death brings home to me that I will never see her again in this life.
I live with happy memories.
Cindy Campbell-Stone
May 7, 2016
I cherish a little painting of a horse she sent to me as a thank you when I was editor of Le Raconteur, newsletter many years ago. I also met Kate at a Storytellers of Canada Conference and was thrilled to meet her in person. Love listening to Kate's stories on her Story Save CD...her stories are her legacy. Thank you, Kate. You will be missed.
Cindy Campbell-Stone, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Celia Lottridge
May 6, 2016
In Toronto I knew Kate as a storyteller whose commitment th telling Chinese traditional stories opened a world to me. She respected the stories and appreciated their beauty and humor. I was lucky to visit her in her Victoria home where she delighted in her vegetable garden, her walks along the shore and her efforts efforts to restore the old Chinese cemetery down the road. Whatever she did she approached head on and was mildly surprised when chaos ensued. I am so glad I knew Kate.
Lorne Brown
May 6, 2016
I knew Kate when she was in Toronto, telling her wonderful Chinese tales. When she moved to Victoria BC I kind of lost track, but finally reconnected many times when I was visiting friends in Victoria. Her wee house was off Lorne Street, as I recall, which made both of us chuckle. In her back yard was an even wee-er structure which turned out to be her "Writing Room" where she wrote stories, articles, etc. We had many a visit, drinking tea and talking about storytelling. Not far from her house was a place she took me to where you could stand with one foot on one geological plate and the other foot on another plate. An impressive experience, and one she wrote as a tale to be found in her CD collection of tales recorded by StorySave.
Her death is a loss to the Canadian storytelling community. She was well looked after by a group of volunteer friends as her ability to look after herself faded, and I thank them sincerely.
Jan Andrews
May 6, 2016
I knew Kate Stevens for her passionate commitment to Chinese oral traditions and as a teller of Chinese tales. I loved her for her fierceness, her vivid joy in living and her considerable eccentricity. I went to her small house near the Chinese cemetery first so that I could record her for the StorySave program which is part of the work of Storytellers of Canada-Conteurs du Canada. In fact she had much to do with that program's inspiration for hers was a voice that so clearly should not be lost. She made herself a unique space in the universe and was, I think, unforgettable to all of us who knew her. I will hold her in my heart for the rest of all my days.
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