Christopher Guy Edmond Bamford, beloved author, translator, book collector, scholar, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, died at his Mt. Washington, Massachusetts home on May 13, 2022, surrounded by family. He was 78.
Christopher was Editor-in-Chief Emeritus for SteinerBooks and Lindisfarne Books. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he lectured and wrote widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions, with books including “Encountering Rudolf Steiner: Introductions to Essential Works” (2022); “Healing Madonnas: Exploring the Sequence of Madonna Images Created by Rudolf Steiner and Felix Peipers for Use in Therapy and Meditation” (2017); “An Endless Trace: The Passionate Pursuit of Wisdom in the West” (2003); and “The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity” (1990). He also translated and edited numerous books, including “Homage to Pythagoras: Rediscovering Sacred Science” (2001); “The Noble Traveller: The Life and Writings of O. V. de L. Milosz” (1984); and “Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness” (1982), and was featured in countless journals. As an avid book collector, observer of human life, and lover of food, music, art, and people, Bamford inspired everyone who had the privilege of being pulled into his grand gravitational orbit.
Born in Cardiff, South Wales, in 1943, Christopher moved with his family as a young boy to Budapest, Hungary to escape the war. He quickly learned the Hungarian language and soaked up the culture. After the Stalinist takeover of Hungary in 1949, his family escaped on the last train headed for Vienna just before his parents were due to be arrested and ultimately settled in Scotland. As a young man, he attended Trinity University in Dublin, Ireland, for his undergraduate studies and The Annenberg School in Philadelphia for his master’s, and resided in the United States for the rest of his life and career.
Christopher is survived by his wife Betsy Spears; children Noah Bamford, Cerrie Bamford and partner Billy Ray Morgan, Sarah Gottlieb Cross and husband Jason, Julia Gottlieb and husband Caleb Turner, Amber Voiles and partner Bradley Brown, Luke Voiles and wife Sarah, and Alex Hudgins and wife Kerry; Dian Woodner, mother to Noah and Cerrie; brother Geoffrey Bamford, his wife Trish, and their son Christopher; and grandchildren Clementine Cross, Henrietta Turner, Lucus, Samantha, Millicent, and Charles Voiles, and Aurelia Brown. He is preceded in death by Tadea Dufault, mother to his stepchildren Sarah and Julia, and his parents, Leslie and Julianna Bamford.
Christopher’s writing, which was featured in “The Best American Spiritual Writing” (edited by Philip Zaleski, 2005), included the following passage: “We seek and we are found. We call and we are called. We give and we are given. We study, we form groups, we meditate. We pray. All this is good, but the heart of the matter lies elsewhere. There is only one universe, one search, one call, one love, one gift. Returning it in the form of the gift of ourselves, we recover not only what we have lost but the seed of the world yet to come. Then the way is clear and simple. Chosen from the foundation of the world, we are called ‘to the praise of the glory of his grace.’”
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a contribution to The Berkshire Waldorf School, SteinerBooks, HospiceCare in The Berkshires, or Doctors Without Borders. To send remembrances to the family, please visit the Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home website.
