Vale Mark Raphael Baker

Writer Mark Raphael Baker died on 4 May. He was the author of The Fiftieth Gate: A journey through memory, about his parents’ experience during the Holocaust, and the memoir Thirty Days: A journey to the end of love, about the death of his wife. He was also director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies in the School at Monash University, Melbourne.

In an obituary published by the Conversation, author Raimond Gaita writes that ‘two new books will be published, hopefully this year and early next year’: The Alphabet of Numbers, ‘a literary thriller in the mould of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History‘ and the memoir A Season of Death, written after Baker was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April 2022.

Text Publishing writes: 

‘The news of Mark Raphael Baker’s death came as a terrible shock. All of us at Text are devastated for his family, and for the loss of such a kind and brilliant man. Mark’s passion for his family and friends, for his writing, and for Jewish culture and genocide studies, was central to his life, as was his sense of humour and ability to draw people together to share ideas and love.

‘Mark’s brave and groundbreaking book The Fiftieth Gate has become a classic in Holocaust literature. In the words of Phillip Adams, “Baker does with memory what Rembrandt does with light. He uses it to model, to imagine, to illuminate, to astonish.” His deeply moving memoir, Thirty Days: A Journey to the End of Love, is a powerful portrait of grief, of a loving marriage and of a family.

‘We have lost Mark, but we still have his books and writing to remind us of his superb gifts as a storyteller and a guide to our explorations of the mind and soul.

‘Our thoughts are with Mark’s family and the wider community he was so much a part of.’

Picture credit: Paul Philipson

Category: Obituaries