Remembering Bill Helmreich and His Ethnography Lessons

Bill Helmreich, ethnographer extraordinaire, passed away due to COVID-19 complications. Walking nearly every inch of New York City and writing about his adventures in fieldnote format, he published several books in what he often referred to as “the city nobody knows” series. Bill hoped to galvanize ethnographers to gather systematic snapshots of other cities around the world and create a lasting sociological account of these places. Upon penning his last book, he made plans to steer his attention to Los Angeles. This essay is a reflection on the lessons I learned from Bill, including his “walk and chat” method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Qualitative Inquiry is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)