On Richard Rorty

My life has been happily marked by the good fortune that, for whatever reason, I've been able to get to know personally the people whose life paths have provided a roadmap for my own. Their deaths tend to leave a void, however, and are a little hard for me to get a handle on because part of the loss is personal and part of it, literally, idealized in a way I can't quite explain. The first time this happened was with the death of Izzy Stone, just as I was beginning my first book, and that still represents both a void in my life but also an inspiration, particularly since I got to know Izzy so well and when I was so young. (What a thrill it was, when I was first getting my start, to be able to talk to a reporter who covered the death of FDR, the first U.N. conference etc., to say nothing of everything else that made Izzy unique). Death is, of course the most natural part of life, and so I try not to get too sad when people die at a ripe old age, as did Arthur Schlesinger a few months ago. Molly Ivins sure died too young for my taste however, and now, so did Richard Rorty.

Read the whole Altercation here.