Dr. Brendon Gooneratne

This, the third death in as many months among those of us who entered Royal in 1949: Dr. Ranjith Ratnapala and Laki Senanayake passed away earlier.

Brendon had been with his wife, Yasmine and Devika their daughter at their retreat in Haputale when he had suffered a stroke two weeks ago. That place was in fact meant to serve as a retreat, rather like Bellagio in Italy, as a place for artists and writers from all over the world to engage themselves in their vocations in leisurely fashion. Named ‘Pemberley” after the mansion of Mr. Darcy of Jane Austen’s novel, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, those who have watched the film of that story would readily recognize the elegance of such a setting for stimulating the creative impulses of those so gifted.

Those who remember him from school days would probably focus on his feats at cricket as opening bowler,’ hard-hitting batsman’ and captain. Those possessed of an anterior memory might remember him as Captain Trelawny in ‘Treasure Island’ with Lal (‘Bada’) Jayasundera as Long John Silver as the leader of the pirates and Harsha (‘H’) Wickremasinghe as the islander, Ben Gunn.

In fact, his accomplishments as a scholar / researcher have for the most part been lost in the light of his career as an entrepreneur in the field of medicine (as well as his interest in Lankan history). The field in which he distinguished himself was parasitology. He mentioned to me that he had been privileged to chair an international conference in that field. (I recall that as around the same time I had been so elevated at an FAO conference – we would both have been in our early ‘thirties).

Passing out with distinction some years before us Yasmine was absorbed into the faculty without pause and proceeded to document and so critique the contribution to English literature by writers here – William Knighton and James d’Alwis. She followed in the footsteps of Professor Lyn Ludowyk, of whom her batch would have been among his last pupils at Peradeniya, and who on his retirement had been called on by Cambridge to produce their guide  to ‘Understanding Shakespeare’ and the Cambridge editions of several  of Shakespear’s plays. Yasmine’s post-graduate studies in the UK led to Cambridge University publishing what were to be the definitive studies by an academic of the works of Alexander Poe and of Jane Austen.

Besides her academic work Yasmine has distinguished herself as a creative writer. Among her outstanding work have been ‘The Lizard’s Cry’, the most substantial poem by a Lankan which draws on the sandesa tradition of classical Sinhala poetry. Her novels, particularly, ‘A Change of Skies’ have taken their place in the fiction that relates to Sri Lanka and to Australia.

Her role as editor and publisher of New Ceylon Writing would no doubt be recalled with by gratitude by Lankan writers in English and, maybe, respect by those who seem to govern the academic syllabus here at every level.  The ‘Poems of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia..’ that she edited for Heinemann  would, naturally, have a much wider provenance.

Devika has charted her own passage as an academic,  a writer and ,in encouraging Lankan writers of today.

Brendon’s brother in law, Wimal Amarasekera, joined Royal in the sixth form, proceeded  to Peradeniya where he achieved distinction as a scholar in the field of oriental studies and passed into the Ceylon Civil Service. His career in the public service was marked by his tenure as Government Agent, Jaffna (where he readily dealt with the many calls on him as the virtual governor of the district in the language of the people whose concerns came within his purview). In the full maturity of his practice as administrator he was chosen as the first Chairman of the Ports Authority – a responsibility that he carried out for almost a decade.

Brendon’s perception of what sociability entails was narrow but given the sum of human life am sure that those who had perforce to interact with him, have long placed any irritation in such place as may be considered no more than appropriate.

May he move forward through samsara!

Gamini Seneviratne