In Memoriam J. Gary Sparks

In a comment Gary posted to Daryl Sharp’s In Memoriam page on the Inner City Books’ blog, he said:

“When it is my time to cross over, I hope it is Daryl who meets me on the other side and helps me feel at home.”

It is very sad to say the words – Gary Sparks has indeed now crossed over. Gary brought a great warmth of eros into the world, while at the same time making a huge intellectual contribution to the collective and our understanding of Carl Jung’s still-expanding ideas.

Let’s see if I can even find the words to say how important Gary Sparks has been, and always will be, to everyone here at Inner City Books.

On paper, you can see that Gary Sparks is that rarest of Jungians – he started in the “hard” sciences before finding his way into the mind-expanding realm of the psyche and its dynamic imagery.

But he started off in electrical engineering! How much more grounded can you get?

To get an idea of the richness of Gary’s personal scholarship and pursuits, please visit the Speaking of Jung podcast website at www.speakingofjung.com. Gary did five interviews with Laura London, who really brings out his sense of humour as well as his insightful analysis of Jungian concepts in his books. And great stories. There are the stories of how he ate rice and beans as a student so he could afford to buy his own Collected Works, one $5 volume at a time. How he struggled to complete his Jungian training with Dieter Baumann (Jung’s grandson), C.A. Meier, and the legendary Marie-Louise von Franz as his thesis supervisor, and how challenged he was to stay dedicated to his vocation. He was saved by his faith in and willingness to stay open to synchronicity as an operating force. These interviews show very well that although Gary Sparks could speak the higher language of esoteric Jungian psychology as well as anyone – he never failed to bring home the gold for the rest of us to understand. He was a scholar, a seeker, and a storyteller of magical talents.

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