What else to do on a cold and snowy Sunday other than sit next to the fire and curl up with the NYT? Been doing it for more than 50 years.
After reading sports, obits, and the Magazine section, I went down to the Lake for a walk with the two stories resonating in my head. Neither the cold, the damp, nor the gray could hide the natural beauty. But, I just couldn’t get Papa Neutrino or Julian Assange out of my head. They both be dreamers who wanted to change the world-one by being a part of it and the other by leaving it. Charge…
People celebrated Papa’s departure with song, champagne, and fireworks. No one on the shore admitted that they didn’t think the craft would make it, though everyone hoped it would. I watched them put it together; Papa was a little ballast short in this shipbuilding experience. And don’t forget, a few days before the departure, he had his pacemaker replaced. His cardiologists even came down to visit the boat with their kids. Not sure they were on board with the trip, but they be healers not seers.
Papa sort of gave everyone a dream that you don’t have to be tied down to your things to have a good life. Who knows if he left anything other than dreams? He knew the score, but didn’t seem to notice if he was ahead or behind. To him, the system was going to do what it was going to do and he was going to do what he was going to do and he didn’t care about the power structure and they didn’t care about him, other than to make sure he secured permission to take his craft out on the Lake, something he did by showing the Coast Guard the raft floated and had running lights.
Well, he left and we all know what happened. Some of his junk remains here, although it is covered by the snow.
When I read Bill Keller’s article on Julian, I sort of got the feeling that he, too, thought he could take on the system and prevail. Both guys battled against the system. One’s dream was built on leaks, the other derailed by one. Ultimately, nature and biology got to Papa. Too early to tell what will happen to Julian. His stuff was not as blockbusting as republican critics have shouted. Nothing changed. We knew most of what he told us. And as for what the materials said about the caddiness of diplomats and world leaders was no surprise. Papa’s ill fated voyage had the same effect.Both didn’t understand that you don’t step on Superman’s cape and you don’t piss into the wind.
I thank the NYT Managing Editor for his work in telling us how respectfully the paper balances the competing interests of the First Amendment. I question, though I do not reject, the judgment that went into selecting Papa for a William Grimes obituary. Aware as I am of the NYT policies on publishing alleged classified documents, assuming that is what Julian’s were and its standards for selecting people for obits, instead of paid death notices, they did what they do. As for both of those guys, though,neither is or was as big a deal as they thought they were, but the world would be a lesser place if individuals didn’t think they could live a life that makes a difference.
