Finished David McCullough's extraordinary biography of John Adams.
Actually
cried at the scene where the old curmudgeon opens his eyes on his deathbed for the last time & croaks,
Thomas Jefferson survives! before expiring.
This one I didn't read; I listened to the audiobook on innumerable drives to Middletown, and then back & forth & around in Ithaca. I'd been wanting to tackle the book since I watched the excellent HBO miniseries
John Adams, but it was the kind of book I knew I wouldn't be able to
read as it contains hundreds of pages on John Adams's theories of governance, & I mean,
Zzzzzzzzz.But I also figured those theories of governance are relevantâparticularly to the political situation
todayâ& that if I were
driving, I wouldn't fall asleep while parsing them.
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Literally speaking, John Adams was wrong: Jefferson died about five hours before Adams did.
Figuratively speaking, though, Adams was right: Jefferson (despite the business with Sally Hemings) remains far more influential today than Adamsâa bit
weird when you think about it because Adams was a fanboy of iron-fisted federal control, all the rage right now, whereas the Rosseau-influenced Jefferson was an ardent supporter of individual rights & frequent revolution.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants, Jefferson once wrote in a letter to Adams's son-in-law.
On the other hand, Donald Trump only
wishes he'd legislated John Adams' Alien & Sedition Acts.
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In other news, Brian-Palooza went well. Good in-person turnout; people driving from as far away as Boston, Vermont, & Pennsylvania; a respectable Zoom contingent.
Brian's niece turned up! A lovely, 30-ish young woman. I was so glad to see her.
I spent most of the time I wasn't emceeing chattering with Brian's neighbor Willie (not his real name) who turns out to have been the chairman of Manhattan's Democratic Party for 15 years. We talked politics!
Why are Democrats such losers? And he asked me for my phone numberâno, nothing like that! He is a billion years old and very, very
gay; in fact, he retold his story about knocking on Brian's door to borrow
lube when it came time for us to share remembrances. (
Water-based or silicon-based? was Brian's reply)âbecause, "You have such an inventive mind!"
If only I weren't planning to be cremated! She Had Such An Inventive Mind would look so good on a tombstone.
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Tranquili-Tea put on a good spread!
Just look how adorable &
The-Importance-of-Being-Ernest-ish these cucumber sandwiches are!

Vinnie, the husband of the woman who runs the tea shop, stood listening to our Brian remembrances with tears in his eyes.
Mind you, Vinnie is a very conventional guy who's lived a totally conventional life.
I was actually rather terrified that he & his wife Vicki would recoil in horror at some of the stories that were being shared.

But afterwards, Vinnie sought me out. "I felt so privileged that you chose us to be a part of this," Vinnie said.
And that was Brian's great gift, you know. He saw the
multiplicity of dimensions that people exist on and he
focused them into something singular and beautiful through the generosity of his own enormous heart.
Brian, I will miss you...