Tony Judt

There was an article by Wesley Yang in New York Magazine about Tony Judt, a British historian and author, who is one of the premier specialists in European History and is the Erich Maria Remarque Professor and director of European studies at New York University. For the past 18 months, Mr. Judt has been suffering from ALS. The disease has paralyzed most of his body and has reduced his voice to a "horse whisper." Judt is considered to be one of the greatest eloquent and thinking minds working today; "one of the most admired and denounced thinkers living in New York City." I say working because despite his debilitating disease he has been dictating a series of articles for The New York Review of Books, teaching, and giving lectures. Judt explains, "I use words to make sense of my life. Words can make the illness a subject I can master, and not one that one simply emotes over."

Often I find myself hard pressed to find a use for the confusion and uprootedness that can at times, be so utterly overwhelming. I should try harder. After all, I have my health, use of my voice, and free will. Here's an excerpt from one of Judt's latest articles dated March 11th, 2010 from The New York Review Books:

Historian's Progress

"According to the literary theorist René Girard, we come to yearn for and eventually love those who are loved by others. I cannot confirm this from personal experience—I have a history of frustrated longings for objects and women who were palpably unavailable to me but of no particular interest to anyone else. But there is one sphere of my life in which, implausibly, Girard's theory of mimetic desire could be perfectly adapted to my experience: if by 'mimetic' we mean mutuality and symmetry, rather than mimicry and contestation, I can vouch for the credibility of his proposition. I love trains, and they have always loved me back."