Just a word and a quick story on the passing of one of this Godiner's favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut. It will be said, again and again, how important he was. Vonnegut's fans will love him. His Detractors will not. So it goes. I think he was as important a personality as he was a writer, his prescence in the word being nearly as meaningful as his work. He kept people thinking about writing, novels, the meaning of life, things like that. That's important. So the little blue ball says goodbye. There will, I am almost sure, not be another like him.
He actually called our office once, long before I was working here. An intern answered the phone and, flustered by the rocky voice announcing immediately "This is Kurt Vonnegut!", she handed the reciever off deftly, like a football, to David, instead of saying "Hello" or anything civil. Kurt was writing a short introduction to our book The Seventh Cross, by Anna Seghers. We seem to have a knack for that kind of behavior here.
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