R.I.P. Tony Judt
The historian and critic Tony Judt died this weekend from complications related to Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). He was 62. From the obituary in the Times.
An impassioned left-wing Zionist as a teenager, he shed his faith in agrarian socialism and Marxism early on and became, as he put it, a “universalist social democrat” with a deep suspicion of left-wing ideologues, identity politics and the emerging role of the United States as the world’s sole superpower.
[…]
“Today I’m regarded outside New York University as a looney-tunes leftie self-hating Jewish communist; inside the university I’m regarded as a typical old-fashioned white male liberal elitist,” he told The Guardian of London in January 2010. “I like that. I’m on the edge of both, it makes me feel comfortable.”
There’s a wealth of links on the obit page to articles by and about Judt. I recommend “Israel without Cliches” (6/9/10). Also, here are excerpts from Judt’s most recent book, Ill Fares the Land at the NYRB and at the Times. Here’s all of Judt’s NYRB work (not sure how much is accessible without a subscription). Also check out “Bush’s Useful Idiots” from the LRB. And here’s an interview with Marc Tracy at Tablet, and another on Fresh Air about living with ALS.
Tags: Ill Fares the Land, Tony Judt
Damn, a really smart, great, provoking mind, RIP
Judt was a longtime hero, all the more so because of his courage to broadcast and write about his disease so openly. Sudden and shitty, but not unexpected. RIP, man.
Damn, a really smart, great, provoking mind, RIP
Judt was a longtime hero, all the more so because of his courage to broadcast and write about his disease so openly. Sudden and shitty, but not unexpected. RIP, man.
Those final personal essays – published over the last year or so by the New York Review – were very enjoyable and often funny and poignant – particularly for readers aware of what he was suffering through. Very sad.
When I wrote funny I was thinking of this one in particularly, about the Swiss: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/magic-mountains/
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Those final personal essays – published over the last year or so by the New York Review – were very enjoyable and often funny and poignant – particularly for readers aware of what he was suffering through. Very sad.
When I wrote funny I was thinking of this one in particularly, about the Swiss: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/magic-mountains/