Author K'tut Tantri dies at 98 in Sydney

MELBOURNE (JP): The author of Revolt in Paradise, K'tut Tantri, died just before 10 o'clock Sunday evening at the age of 98 in the Sydney City Mission, an old people's home in Sydney.

Her lawyer and biographer, Timothy Lindsey, said her body would be cremated in Sydney next week and her ashes flown to Bali for a ritual in September.

He said she would bequeath her money to care for poor children in Bali.

Born Muriel Walker in a small town in Scotland, she was later known by her married name Muriel Pearson, and lived in Hollywood, USA.

In 1932 she left for Bali in search of a dream and was swept into an extraordinarily eventful and adventurous life in Indonesia.

In Bali, she began to use the name Mrs. Manx, then K'tut Tantri, a name she claimed a Balinese king gave to her.

K'tut Tantri was known among Indonesian independence fighters for her solidarity with their cause.

She was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese, scorned and suspected by the Dutch and the British, who nicknamed her Sourabaya Sue and Yankee Mata Hari.

Her autobiographical account of her years in Indonesia, Revolt in Paradise, was first published in 1960 by Harper and Row in New York and later reprinted in more than a dozen languages, including Indonesian. It received many glowing reviews.

In the last years of her life she had several friends who visited her occasionally but she had two close friends who looked after her. They were Timothy Lindsey and Sandra Paul.

Lindsey's book The Romance of K'tut Tantri and Indonesia was published in Melbourne earlier this year.

Sydney film producer Christine Olsen remembers her sharp mind and wicked sense of humor, even at 97.

"She was remarkable. She could hardly move then, yet her mind was very lucid," Olsen said.

K'tut Tantri wished to be buried in Indonesia but it remains to be seen whether her wish will be fulfilled.