'Very few people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji are familiar with the hyphenated surname Monsell-Davis, yet many in government, academia and on the street knew the man who bore it. To them he was simply Mike Davis, a teacher, benefactor, and mine of knowledge about the Pacific islands. He lived simply, had no apparent career ambitions in academia and his publications were relatively few. Indeed, in a contemporary climate where frequency of publication is implied to be a measure of an academic's worth, Mike frustrated many colleagues who recognised his knowledge and expertise and attempted to obtain from him an article, book chapter, or contribution to an edited collection. His recalcitrance was largely a result of his commitment to the community he studied as an anthropologist: he wanted his publications to be of genuine practical use and doubted his ability to achieve this purpose. He was reluctant to publish to what he regarded as lesser ends.' (Introduction)
