Dr. Alan M. Stevens

Alan M. Stevens (1935-2024) died Thursday, March 14 of a cardiac arrest in New York City. Born to Beatrice (Ingber) and Irving Silverstein, he was raised in the Bronx and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, where he won a citywide French competition and established life-long friendships. After graduating from Columbia University in 1956, he went on to a PhD in linguistics at Yale, specializing in phonology and Indonesian languages. His 1960 field work in Madurese started a long career of research, writing, and travel. In 1967, he co-founded the linguistics department at Queens College, CUNY; he taught there and at the CUNY Graduate Center for more than 35 years. With A. Edward Schmidgall-Tellings, he co-authored A Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary, the standard in its field. After retiring from academia in 2005, he devoted himself to Indonesian and Malay translating, interpreting, and consulting until his death. He was a lover of Bach and a dogged contributor to the Times's Letters to the Editor.

Alan is sorely missed by his wife of 42 years, Linda (Audette) Stevens, whom he met in Java in 1979; by his children, Claudia, Nicholas, Emily, and David Stevens; and by his grandson, Chase Morrissey. He was previously married to Jacqueline (Spieler) Stevens, who predeceased him.

A funeral service will be held at Riverside Memorial Chapel (180 W. 76th Street) on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 11:00am. The burial will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. The family will welcome visitors at home on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday after the funeral, between 10 am and 1 pm.