Alan M. Trevithick

Alan M. Trevithick passed from this life on October 20, 2024 after a valiant fight with lung cancer and a victory over lymphoma. In his final days, Alan still remained the same person who was so beloved by all who had the good fortune to know him. Throughout his life, he was a multifaceted intellectual, life-long academic, artist, dedicated teacher, musician, fiction writer, journalist, social activist, naturalist, and so much more. Perhaps most important, he was a loving husband and father, and a true friend to everyone he knew. 

Alan was born on November 11, 1952, in Washington, DC, to John Trevithick and Helen (nee Wehby) Trevithick. A career civil servant, John Trevithick worked at the U.S. mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for several years and later in a high-level position in the U.S. State Department in the Office of Science and Technology. Helen worked for much of her life as a part time high school and college English instructor and a stay-at-home mom.

 Alan enjoyed life fully. Since his early years, living with his parents and siblings in Vienna, he was an adventurous traveler who loved to immerse himself in other cultures. In his youth Alan was a member of the Walt Whitman High School climbing club in Bethesda, Maryland, and ran a St. Bernard farm in West Virginia. Alan was accepted at the Corcoran School of Art at George Washington University, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from G.W.  in History of Religion. He then received an M.A. in South Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin before completing his PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard University. His thesis, entitled “A Jerusalem of the Buddhists in British India: 1874-1949” focuses on the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in India. 

His PhD studies led him to spend two years in India as a Fulbright Scholar and in England as a recipient of a Knox Memorial Fellowship. Alan published scholarly articles and a highly cited research monograph on the revival of Buddhist pilgrimage at Bodh Gaya.

He worked in Bulgaria, first as an anthropology professor during the inaugural first year of the American University in Bulgaria, where he served as an acting Dean of Faculty, and for 2 years as a Civic Education Project academic coordinator for the George Soros Open Society Foundation. Later he greatly enjoyed editing a local newspaper, the Voice, in Winstead, CT, where he wrote whimsical weekly columns about people’s lives and events in the area.

Alan taught anthropology at an eclectic array of colleges and universities, including Harvard, Sofia University, Stony Brook University, Westchester Community College, Laguardia Community College, and finally at Fordham University, where his wife is a Professor of Mathematics. No matter what their academic, social, or cultural backgrounds, Alan loved his students, and was forever talking about the intelligence and insight they brought to classroom discussions. Alan took great delight in teaching diverse groups, and treated all his students with dignity and caring. 

Passionate about fighting injustice, Alan believed in the right of workers to unionize and was instrumental in organizing a union for non-tenure track instructors at Fordham University.  He was one of the founding members of the New Faculty Majority and a recipient of an outstanding service award at Westchester Community College for his work there. He was also an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation for most of his life in both his hometown of Washington, DC, where he was chapter president of the Liberal Religious Youth group and in White Plains, NY, as a member of the Social Justice Committee.

Always learning about and striving to master new avenues of creativity, Alan had many hobbies and passions that greatly enriched both his life and the lives of those he shared them with. He was a writer of short stories in publications such as The Seattle Review, Sou’wester, and The Exquisite Corpse. Most recently, he completed a novel, Raise the City, yet to be published, a comic work of future fiction, which draws heavily on Alan’s Cornish roots, some of which go back to the Trevithicks of St Ewe or St Austell, mid Cornwall, or later to the Central Mining District of Camborne-Redruth, where Richard Trevithick, the inventor of the first railway steam locomotive, was born. 

Art was an important part of Alan’s life and an integral aspect of his thinking and being. He was a prolific worker in many mediums, carving wooden sculptures, painting in watercolors, and making unique fractal-like papier-mache artwork, for which he received the Best in Show award at the Larchmont Artists Guild. He was a fan of jazz, blues, and old country music, and loved sitting down at the keyboard or picking up a guitar at a moment’s notice. He appreciated and knew a lot about food and wine, and loved cooking for his family and friends, especially at his famous New Year’s Eve parties.  Always fascinated by nature, he was an indoor and outdoor gardener, and a devoted pet owner. Most recently he spent a good amount of time with his blue parrotlet, whom he named Giuseppe Celestiano DiForpini, and called Pino. In his earlier years Alan loved hiking into the countryside, looking for a good stream to fish, an interest that he shared with his older brother Steve. 

Rarely talking about himself, Alan was interested in the lives and stories of others. Full of life, he was articulate, charming, an affectionate companion and friend. He was a genuine, lovely, complex human being, a delight to know. While Alan’s formidable intellect was often focused on discussions of politics, history and culture, one always appreciated his ability to approach serious or difficult subjects with intelligence, kindness, lightness, and humor. 

Alan met Melkana (nee Brakalova) at the American University in Bulgaria, while they were both teaching there, and the two were married in March of 1995 in Sofia.

Alan’s son from his first marriage to Jane Trevithick (nee Paxton), Joe Trevithick, was born in 1984.  Joe is presently Deputy Editor of The War Zone, an online defense and security news outlet, has done on-air interviews with CNN and BBC about his work.

Alan’s son with Melkana, Alex Trevithick, was born in 1998. Alex is currently completing his PhD at the University of California San Diego, while also working as an Artificial Intelligence researcher at Google DeepMind. 

Above all else, Alan was a family man, a devoted husband and father. His family knew they could rely on him for encouragement whenever they needed support; he loved them deeply and appreciated them and their interests. He loved cooking amazing meals.  He liked to watch Monty Python with his children. He loved fishing in Lake Wononskopomuc in Lakeville, CT, with Joe and cheered on the sidelines as Alex played soccer in Mamaroneck or all over Westchester County, NY.  He deeply cared about his brothers John and Steve, his niece and nephew Kristy and Mark, sometimes talking on the phone for hours with them.  He enjoyed traveling with Melkana and Alex to the Black Sea and the Adriatic coasts in the summer months, visiting friends and relatives in Sofia and many other European cities. His relatives and friends in Bulgaria treasured his company, and will remember him for his hearty smile, great company, depth and breadth of knowledge, and positive attitude. 

Alan and Melkana took frequent trips to the local Westchester parks, and to beautiful New England destinations, especially the Berkshires, attended operas, ballets, and Broadway shows in Manhattan, and enjoyed parties with friends and family. Alan was always a great companion. His brilliance, wit, humor, big heart, smile, optimism, warm, loving voice, and love of life will be forever missed. One of Alan’s last wishes was to return to Bulgaria and live in our beautifully renovated ancestral home in downtown Sofia. 

Alan is survived by his wife, Melkana; his sons, Joe and Alex; his brother, John A; Joe’s wife Kelly; Joe and Kelly’s daughter Molly; and Joe’s mom, Jane; and his dear relatives on the Trevithick side, niece Kristy and Kristy’s son Caden, nephew Mark, Mark’s wife Brianna, and Mark and Brianna’s son Asher. He is lovingly remembered by the Bulgarian relatives on his wife’s side: Vessela and Gerry, Borislav and Milena, Ivo and Hena, Zlatan, Stella and Victor, Bobbi and Viara. He was predeceased by his parents in addition to his brother, Steve.

A celebration of life gathering for Alan will be held at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains, 468 Rosedale Ave, White Plains, NY 10605, https://cuucwp.org/about/, in a hybrid format (in person and via zoom) on the 24th of November 2024 at 2pm by the family. 

Please email Melkana and/or Alex at Alanmemorial112424@gmail.com to share your thoughts about Alan, or to contribute to a booklet with memories and pictures that will honor his life or to send us your email and name to be added to access the zoom link to the memorial service.

All friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors are welcome to join.  In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to a charity of your choice in Alan’s memory or to https://gofund.me/3a968abe to support the publication of his novel Raise the City.

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