Gordon Sturrock obituary

Other lives: Original thinker whose theories of play have been widely adopted

My husband, Gordon Sturrock, who has died aged 71, was an original thinker whose ideas shaped the theory and practice of children’s playwork, a vocation that grew out of the UK adventure playground movement.

He had a varied career, managing adventure playgrounds in London from 1976 to 1985 and then, from 1985 to 1990, running his own playground equipment business, Interplay Resources. In 1990 he set up The Play Practice, a consultancy to the play and leisure industry, which he ran while also acting as course leader in playwork and youth studies at the University of East London from 1999 to 2009.

Gordon’s devotion to play was shaped by his upbringing. He was born in Dundee, to Cathleen (nee Howe) and Bill Sturrock. His father was the manager of a jute mill in Chittagong, East Pakistan, where Gordon spent the early years of his life, and acquired from his ayah, or nursemaid, a spiritual sense that never left him. He was returned to Dundee at the age of six to live with his maternal grandmother, a wrench away from his parents that eventually resulted in the conviction that life traumas could be healed through play.

After leaving Kirkton High school in Dundee in 1966, he spent several years travelling and working as a DJ, finally ending up in London, where he and I met in 1972. I had just arrived from the US and had embarked on a publishing career; at the time Gordon was employed as a labourer on the National Theatre building site, where he was elected shop steward on the spot after using the word “axiomatic” at a union meeting. Clearly cut out for more cerebral things, he belatedly resumed his education, gaining a DipHE from North East London Polytechnic in 1976 before moving into adventure playgrounds. Later he gained an MA in psychoanalytic studies from the University of Sheffield, in 1995.

Adding to material from his master’s thesis, Gordon set out his ideas for what he called “therapeutic playwork” in a report called The Colorado Paper (with Perry Else, 1998); its terms and concepts have been widely adopted in the playwork field. He wrote more than 20 influential papers and three books, the last of which, The Play Cycle (with Pete King), has just been published, posthumously.

Gordon was a playful man who delighted in his many collections – of contemporary art, vintage leather flying jackets and rare whiskies. We finally married in 2014. He is survived by me and by his three sisters, Anne, Susan and Sara.

Sue Joiner

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Margaret Kaye obituary
Other lives: Social worker who was a friend and protector to children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Paul Greengrass

31, Jan, 2020 @11:37 AM

Article image
Sally Thomas obituary
Other lives: Lecturer in early childhood studies, passionate about children and play

Siân Wyn Siencyn

06, Jan, 2020 @5:07 PM

Article image
Denise Hevey obituary
Other lives: Educationist and policy maker in the field of early years and child protection

Eleanor Hevey

29, Jan, 2023 @5:10 PM

Article image
Karen Adcock Doyle obituary
Other lives: Worker for children’s wellbeing who used dance to help those affected by trauma

Keith Doyle

28, Feb, 2019 @3:38 PM

Article image
Perlita Harris obituary
Other lives: Academic whose writing gave voice to the experience of adopted people

Joan Fletcher

31, Jan, 2019 @4:14 PM

Article image
Gordon McGregor obituary
Other lives: Dedicated Christian who was a former principal of the College of Ripon and York St John

John Axon

02, Apr, 2019 @5:11 PM

Article image
Gordon Roderick obituary
Other lives: Historian of scientific education and academic in adult continuing education

Paul Roderick

08, Apr, 2021 @5:23 PM

Article image
Peter Gordon obituary
Other lives: Author and a professorof history and humanities at the Institute of Education, London

David Gordon

25, Jun, 2018 @4:28 PM

Article image
Robbie Gordon obituary
Other lives: Hastings resident who took pleasure in the natural world, and loved the sparkly lights of Christmas

Peter Gordon

02, Feb, 2022 @5:55 PM

Article image
Berry Mayall obituary
Other lives: Educationist who made an international impact with her work on childhood

Helen Penn

27, Dec, 2021 @7:39 PM