Megan Messerly
August 9, 2013
Robert N. Bellah, a UC Berkeley professor renowned for exploring the intimate
relationship between American society and religious identity, died July 30 in Oakland. 
He was 86.
His death was caused by complications of heart surgery, the university said of its 
professor emeritus of sociology.
In his 1967 essay, "Civil Religion in America," Professor Bellah posited the idea
that "civil religion," a nonsectarian, abstract faith, binds together the fabric of American 
society - a concept for which he won acclaim within the sociological community.
"He was moving toward a powerful critique of global cultural experience," said Ann Swidler, 
a colleague of Professor Bellah's in the sociology department at UC Berkeley. 
"He is kind of a demigod in the world of sociology."
Although Professor Bellah wrote or collaborated on more than a dozen books, the 1985
best-seller "Habits of the Heart" leaves perhaps the most lasting legacy in academic and
popular circles.
In the book, which sold almost 500,000 copies in its first decade of publication, Bellah 
and his four co-authors explore contemporary society and the beliefs that shape it
through a survey of middle-class Americans.
On Wednesday, Professor Bellah's four co-authors met at UC Berkeley to partake in 
an annual tradition that began after "Habits" was published, coming together for a couple 
of days to discuss their most recent research.
This year, they remembered Professor Bellah and discussed his most recent work 
- papers that would have constituted core sections of his new book about modernity, 
said Swidler, one of the co-authors.
"There is a line from Aeschylus he loved: 'Time in its aging course teaches all things,' " 
said "Habits" co-author Steven M. Tipton, a professor of sociology and religion at 
Emory University in Atlanta. "The well of the past is deep, and from it Bob drew
 practical wisdom and living water."
Robert Neelly Bellah was born Feb. 23, 1927, in Altus, Okla., where his father was
 the editor and publisher of the local newspaper. When he was 2 years old, Professor 
Bellah's father died and the family moved to Los Angeles.
Professor Bellah's wife, Melanie, died in 2010. He is survived by two daughters, 
Hally Bellah-Guther of Berkeley and Jennifer Bellah Maguire of Los Angeles; a sister,
 Hallie Bellah Reynolds; and five grandchildren.
In 2000, Professor Bellah was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President 
Bill Clinton for his contributions to sociological research on American society.
But for all of Professor Bellah's praise from the academic community, colleagues who
knew him personally say he was a "regular person" who happened to be "smarter than 
most people - and philosophically trained."
Every Sunday, Professor Bellah dined with Bellah-Guther, whose three children often
performed concerts for their classical-music-loving grandfather on the piano and cello.
"Sometimes these brilliant people can be harsh in personal lives, but he was a very loving,
generous, kind person," she said. "Every day, every single time I've been with my dad, 
he inspired me by telling me what he was thinking about what he was reading."
A memorial service for Professor Bellah will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 20 at All Souls 
Episcopal Parish in Berkeley.
Megan Messerly is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail:mmesserly@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganmesserly