2 posts tagged “author”

Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died aged 89, according to the Associated Press.
   Not only was he a great author (admission: I have only ever read passages of his books), he was one of Russia’s straight-shooters.
   I like to think Solzhenitsyn was largely fair, pointing out the faults of Russia and the west.
   These excerpts from the AP report in the International Herald–Tribune interested me most, because they continue to hold lessons for us today:

He attacked the complicity of millions of Russians in the horrors of Stalin’s reign. “Suddenly all the professors and engineers turned out to be saboteurs—and they believed it? … Or all of Lenin’s old guard were vile renegades—and they believed it? Suddenly all their friends and acquaintances were enemies of the people—and they believed it?”
   The Stalinist era, he wrote, quoting from a poem by Alexander Pushkin, forced Soviet citizens to choose one of three roles: tyrant, traitor, prisoner.

and:

While avoiding a partisan political role, Solzhenitsyn vowed to speak “the whole truth about Russia, until they shut my mouth like before.”

   The first quote is an important reminder that we need to always be vigilant, and remember—rather than rely on others to tell us what we should remember.
   The second reminds us of our own duties.
   And Solzhenitsyn’s life—staying firm despite being sent to the gulag—is an inspiration to us to remain firm in our truest beliefs. It is a romantic notion to say ‘[His accounts] inspired millions, perhaps, with the knowledge that one person’s courage and integrity could, in the end, defeat the totalitarian machinery of an empire,’ but one that finds instant appeal for me.

Sad news for car nuts: automotive and technical writer Jeff Daniels has passed away, according to Keith Adams’ Austin Rover Online website. There’s a longer piece at Just-auto.com.
   There probably isn’t anyone of my generation who doesn’t recall the greats like L. J. K. Setright, Jeff Daniels, George Bishop, Phil Hill and Paul Frère.
   Jeff wrote a column called ‘Danspeak’ in Autocar for many years, and it is probably his style, more than anyone else’s, that informed me when I started my columns.
   I found him one of the more knowledgeable car writers out there and it is sad that much of this old style of journalism has given way to the Jeremy Clarksons of this world. Just as in television presenting, where the William Woollards gave way to the Jeremy Clarksons on Top Gear.
   While I love Clarkson’s style (since he could never get away with it without some actual research) and can be said to adopt elements myself, there is still room for the more technical, educated approach of Daniels et al.
   Jeff Daniels was 68 and continued working up to his death. He will be sorely missed.