Stephen (Steve) Lamb

Our friend and colleague, Stephen (Steve) Lamb, known to many in Warwick German Studies circles and indeed more widely, passed away at Myton Hospice, Warwickshire on 21st December. His passing followed a challenging period of illness, which had seen Steve enter full-time care. He leaves behind him two sons, Christopher and Richard, and his granddaughter. Chris informs me that Steve was, in the end, comfortable and died peacefully, which is in turn a comfort to those of us who knew and cared for him.

Steve's DNA was so closely interwoven with that of Warwick. He was a founding member of staff in our (then) German Department in 1973. Together with colleagues (and I hope they don't mind me naming them) such as Keith Bullivant, Godfrey Carr, Tony Phelan, and Rob Burns, he worked under the leadership of Richard Hinton Thomas to create a genuinely bold and innovative model of German Cultural Studies which, in hindsight, blazed a trail for our discipline. That tradition continued in later years and saw Steve, often as Head of German, working with scholars such as Erica Carter, Georgina Paul, Sean Allan and others: one of his most enduring legacies will be his work on the Ernst Toller Ausgabe with Jim Jordan, as is reflected in a well-loved picture of both those colleagues alongside Günter Grass.

Steve, I felt, was very much a man of his generation. His values, inherited in part from his mother's politics, though galvanized by the time he spent in Berlin in the 1960-s, made him truly 'people centred' and certainly someone who would go out to bat for students (cricketing pun intended). He retained a great interest in teaching and remained convinced that we, as educators, were turning out young people from university who would, in turn, do good in the world. He remained pivotal in keeping alive Warwick's yearly pilgrimage to Schloss Dhaun in Germany, a quite unique gathering of staff and year abroad students based in Germany, designed to provide pastoral care, pedagogical coherence, and engender a feeling of camaraderie in all of us at Easter each year. All indispensable things.

Latterly in his career, Steve stepped into a role as the University's Senior Tutor, effectively overseeing the developing culture and infrastructure of student care at Warwick at a time when this was becoming ever more central to what was expected of us in Higher Education. For this work he will be remembered by staff from across the wider university and, of course, by generations of students, many of whom have already started sharing their thoughts, memories and feelings on social media.

Personally, I shared with him interests in music, politics and German culture, discussed sport (mainly cricket and football) and enjoyed reflecting nostalgically on the 1960-s and 70-s. He was part of the panel that appointed me at Warwick and I cannot imagine my professional life without him. As colleagues will doubtless agree, there was so much to Steve and far more than can be said here: he was a father, a grandfather, a 'rock' of a colleague, a keen cricketer, and a musician. He will be very much missed.

By James Hodkinson.

I have fond memories of working with Steve to manage German undergraduate admissions and deliver languages open days and 'Beyond GCSE' workshops in 2005-7. He was always appreciative of the contributions of others, and gave so much care to his role. My deepest condolences to his family and colleagues.

Vicky Strudwick

Steve was a true gentleman who absolutely loved cricket. I’ll never forget watching him bowl eight overs in a row and then score 68 not out—a real all-rounder and natural leader. He always encouraged staff and students, making sure everyone had the chance to enjoy and grow through the game.

Joe B

Met & played cricket with Steve for staff team in the 90s, awesome cricketer, awesome person. Sad news 🙏🏾

Sri Sharma

My memories of Steve go back to the early 80s, when my late husband Robert Pettifer joined the Staff and Postgraduate Cricket team. Steve was a bowler and so was Robert, so there was some rivalry between them there! Cricket was a very important part of Steve’s life! His family and mine grew up together and we appreciated the friendship of Steve, his family and the Cricket team! We remember him fondly and are sad at his passing.

Mary Pettifer