Author K'tut Tantri dies at 98 in Sydney

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.