Alias papa: life of Fritz Schumacher

It took a long time before author realized that the man who died on September 4th, 1977 was my father. There was little room for a sense of personal loss when the obituaries mourned the passing of a 'prophet standing against the tide', or, 'A man. who asks the right questions of his society and of all societies at a crucial time in their history, or which claimed, "To very. few people is it given to begin to change, drastically and creatively, the direction of human thought. Dr Schumacher be longs to this intensely creative minority. (Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Charles H. Percy, The Times respectively.) Such comments were followed by letters of condolence from heads of states as well as countless lesser-known people from all over the world whose contact with this man, Schumacher, had somehow affected their lives.
Even more unreal were those who called at the house asking for some memento. One asked for his hat, another for his typewriter. Had this man been some sort of saint, I wondered, whose relics were now being collected for posterity? Others came wanting to set up Schumacher centres and Schumacher societies.