Barzun 100: October 2012

Uncensored John Simon: JACQUES BARZUN, R.I.P.

Barzun's correction of Safire addressed the difference between moored and *anchored*. Ships at dock are generally moored, which means they have at least two lines made fast to cleats or bollards.

Barzun's knowledge came from a sailor's experience, including maritime reading, of course. He told this former navy navigator and recreational sailor that he greatly enjoyed sailing the Elizabeth Islands out of Cotuit, Mass.

Thank you for including the anecdote about JB's invitation to lunch that ended in splitting the bill. The Barzun family misfortune of having their broker pirate their funds marked teenage Jacques indelibly, even into his nineties. (See Michael Murray's Portrait at p. 33)

He once scolded me for using more postage than required for a thick letter I sent to him. Never mind that the gas for a trip to the post office would have cost much more than those few cents for stamps.

Despite the few cutting remarks known to me or the rare stingy act, Barzun's generosity predominates. His gifts have been substantial, not only of donations to orchestras, institutions, and individuals, but also the gift of his own talents employed for the benefit of others.

I also suspect that cool courtesy was his shield, providing privacy ... and protecting writing time. How else could he have produced so much?

John Adams of http://gentlerereader.com/

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“Mean”? “Niggardly”? Nonsense. For a book not available here that I purchased for him in France, Jacques reimbursed me to the penny—not a cent more, not a cent less. He took to heart the message of the excellent old proverb, “les bons comptes font les bons amis,” which William Cobbett well translated in 1833 as “even reckoning makes lasting friends.”

“Barzun, however, one was not allowed to edit. Everything, down to the last comma, had to be left as it was […].” The implication, that Jacques did not want to be edited, is false. He several times assured me that, as editor of collections of essays on Berlioz, I would be doing him a favor if I were “merciless” with his prose. On one occasion I dared to suggest that he change one word and add one comma. He rejected the word change, accepted the comma, and told me my editing was “brilliant.” This was partly ironic, of course, but it was also partly sincere.

Peter Bloom, Professor of Humanities, Smith College

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Guide to the Leo Raditsa Papers at Harvard University

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Remembering the Passed, Remembering Jacques Barzun (YouTube)

Permanent Qui Vive, A Moment of Silence

Steve Sailer, Historian Jacques Barzun, age 104 RIP

Yaacov Lozowick, Jacques Barzun, Intellectual Giant, 1907-2012

John Adams, musical expression

Mark Halpern, Vocabula Review, Jacques Barzun: His Life and His Life (subscription)

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Lara Cardon Updike, Leaves on a Tree

William Murchison, The Modern University and the Muddled Mind

Ben Zimmer, Boston Globe, Jacques Barzun, protector of English (subscription)

John Adams, gentle rereader, Giving Thanks [Meeting Jacques Barzun after reading him for 25 years]

Jay Ambrose, Jacques Barzun was a man of the century

Gavin Parfit, Jacques Barzun 1907–2012

Barzun 100

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Jacques Barzun, 30 Nov 1907 – 25 Oct 2012

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