Marvin Meyer, R.I.P.

MARVIN MEYER, I am very sad to report, died yesterday: The Passing of Marvin Meyer. I attended his excellent 1998 conference on ancient magic at Chapman University, which led to the 2002 collection of essays Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World. Marv was a fine scholar who produced much good work, which I have consulted often, and he was a good guy. Requiescat in pace.

UPDATE: From Alin Suciu, from whom I first heard the news on Facebook: R.I.P. Marvin Meyer.

UPDATE (18 August): David Frankfurter at the PSCO Facebook page:

I hope that there will be some kind of memorial volume for Marvin Meyer, who really fired up the study of magic in antiquity and especially as a constitutive part of early Christianity. He was also one of the two best television representatives of the study of early Christianity (along with Paula Fredriksen) -- far better in front of the camera than any of us could ever hope to be. And his energy and sense of humor, coupled with a perfectly nerdy obsession with manuscripts and philology, made him one of the key scholars to shift the SBL from its old temperament to its 21st century self. He was also a terrific mentor to many of us entering the academy in the 80s and 90s. Particularly for those of us who gathered in Lawrence, KS, and Orange, CA, for two great conferences on ancient magic, our spiritual (and somewhat Bacchic) father Marvin will be deeply missed.

Indeed. And the memorial volume is a great idea.