James "Malik" Berry

BERRY, James "Malik", born in Queens, NY, 1933 - April 30, 2011, Writer, woodworker, musician, science radio producer, Friend. He served in the Army in Austria, attended the Sorbonne and Union Theological Seminary, was active in the Catholic Worker Movement in NYC, initiated into the Sufi Order of the West. Experiencing signs of early onset Alzheimer's, he left Brooklyn to spend the next 15 years in Stephentown, NY on his 40 acre farm and in Tucson, AZ where he continued to write, meditate, play music and participate in spiritual inquiry as a regular at Desert House of Prayer, Sunrise Chapel, St. Francis in the Foothills, Sufi Dancing and the Universal Worship. Malik made a solemn intention to practice the prayer "Bless all we receive in thankfulness" - emphasizing ALL. Facing the challenges of dementia, he endeavored to turn loss of memory into being present in the moment, forgetfulness of the world into remembrance of God, vulnerability into tenderness, and his external confinement into an opportunity to practice inner freedom. Three children survive him, as does his beloved companion of 19 years, Ma'at Robbins of Tucson. Arrangements by HALL AND HIGGINS.