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brian sutton-smith  
(1924-2015)

elizAbeth tuCker

Brian Sutton-Smith was not only a giant in the field of folklore studies and a 
pioneering scholar whose vision shaped the interdisciplinary study of play, but 
also an extremely kind, generous person who vividly remembered his own 
childhood in New Zealand through insightful works of fiction and vigorously 
defended children’s rights. His studies of the dynamics of play, games, storytelling, 
and other expressive forms have contributed immeasurably to the study of 
children’s folklore. As a scholar, colleague, and teacher, he has greatly enriched 
our field. 

Brian received New Zealand’s first Ph.D. in education in 1954 and traveled to 
the United States as a Fulbright scholar shortly afterwards. His teaching career 
began at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and continued at Columbia 
University and the University of Pennsylvania. His legendary productivity includes 
more than fifty books, including The Ambiguity of Play (1997), and numerous 
articles. At the Strong Museum in Rochester, patrons can now learn about his work 
by visiting the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play.

I first met Brian when he gave a lecture about children’s storytelling, based on 
stories told by children aged two to ten that his team of students had collected in 
New York; these narratives became the foundation for his Folkstories of Children 
(1981). Before presenting his analysis, he read several stories told by two-year-
olds. With careful intonation and facial expressions, he read Alice’s story: 

The cat went on the cakies 
The cat went on the car 
The cookie was on my nose 
The cookie went on the fireman’s hat (1981:48).

What a fantastically mobile face he had! As he read Alice’s story, Brian became a 
convincing facsimile of a two-year-old storyteller: excited, repetitive, and poetic. 
He took young storytellers very seriously and found parallels between their stories 
and the stories of adults. In the preface to The Folkstories of Children he observes, 
“The caricature of children’s stories, as of adult soap operas, is not unlike the 
behavior of otherwise sophisticated persons caught in situations of stress and 
ambiguity” (1981:xi). One of his greatest gifts to children’s folklore studies has 
been his insistence on perceiving play and other expressive forms as vital human 
experiences, rather than experiences limited to the young.

Working closely with his students and colleagues, Brian helped folklorists and 
scholars in other fields learn about children’s culture. In 1977, at the request of Sue 
Samuelson, his first teaching assistant, he considered the need for more serious 
attention to children’s folklore. His solution to that problem was the formation 
of a Children’s Folklore Society (now the children’s folklore section) within the 

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American Folklore Society. I joined the steering committee for that new society 
and have participated in the society in a number of ways since then. We owe 
Brian sincere thanks for the Children’s Folklore Society and for Children’s Folklore 
Review, which has been published for more than thirty years.

In 1995, Children’s Folklore: A Source Book was published, co-edited by 
Brian and other children’s folklore scholars. This innovative volume discusses 
interrelated genres and takes a close look at the complexity and transmission of 
children’s folklore. While writing and revising the book’s chapter on narratives, 
I enjoyed receiving letters from Brian, who was always insightful and positive-
spirited. One of the book’s most valuable chapters is its last, titled “The Past in 
the Present: Theoretical Directions for Children’s Folklore.” I have often reread 
that chapter, which poses a provocative question: “how is it that our adult culture 
so typically suppresses the power-related aspects of children’s lives so clearly 
represented in this present document?” (McMahon and Sutton-Smith1995:308). This 
question and others raised by Brian’s work deserve careful consideration.

When Brian retired from the University of Pennsylvania, my husband and I 
were invited to attend his retirement party. On a bone-crackingly cold January day, 
we drove to Philadelphia and arrived just in time for the dinner. It warmed our 
hearts to find that each plate held a special gift: a toy! Mine was a miniature yellow 
tractor. I wish I still had that tractor, but I gave it to my son, and it disappeared 
in his tangle of miniature vehicles. I remember the tractor with pleasure and will 
always remember Brian, who was a remarkable scholar, a great teacher, and a true 
friend. His thoughtfulness, brilliance, and appreciation of play will stay with us as 
we move toward new forms and meanings of children’s folklore.

WORKS CITED

McMahon, Felicia R., and Brian Sutton-Smith. 1995. “The Past in the Present: 
Theoretical Directions for Children’s Folklore.” In Children’s Folklore: 
A Source Book edited by Brian Sutton-Smith, Jay Mechling, Thomas W. 
Johnson, and Felicia R. McMahon, 293–308. Logan: Utah State University 
Press.

Pellegrini, Anthony D. 1995. The Future of Play Theory: A Multidisciplinary Inquiry 
into the Contributions of Brian Sutton-Smith. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Sutton-Smith, Brian. 1981. The Folkstories of Children. Philadelphia: University of 
Pennsylvania Press.

________. 2001. The Ambiguity of Play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sutton-Smith, Brian, Jay Mechling, Thomas W. Johnson, and Felicia R. McMahon, 

eds. 1995. Children’s Folklore: A Source Book. New York: Garland 
Publishing, Inc.

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