(Please see Gemstone: Jacques Barzun Part II and Gemstone: Jacques Barzun Part II)
Late at night on the 18th of October, I received an email from Leo Wong, (of the The Barzun Centennial Committee, an independent celebration of Jacques Barzun's 100th Birthday):
Dear Minta,
I have just been to the Columbia Great Teacher Award dinner for Jacques Barzun. You will be happy to know that the Jacques Barzun Professor of History, Kenneth Jackson, quoted your third to last paragraph in its entirety before an audience of nearly 300 attendees in Low Library Rotunda. Thank you for your writing your tribute.
Sincerely,
Leo WongI immediately looked to find what I had written in that paragraph. Here it is:
Western Civilization is facing great challenges, internally and from without. If we are to escape the powers of darkness that threaten us, it will be in part because of knowledge gained from books such as those written by Prof. Barzun. This is not a facile statement. It is preeminently the words in books that have enjoined the battles that will decide the eventual outcome of this fierce world war. As never before, the Battle of the Books is all around us, and some major weapons on all sides have titles and publication dates. I believe that Jacques Barzun is a weapon of the highest caliber.
I wrote and thanked Professor Jackson for letting my words be part of Columbia University’s celebration of Jacques Barzun’s life.
I was absolutely thrilled!
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