Friday, February 15, 2013

Fess Up, CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Please, instead of faking causes of my disagreement with Richard Brodhead and Andrew Delbanco as you did Monday in A LEVIATHAN TASK OF BIOGRAPHY, just print what Brodhead said in the New York TIMES in 2002 about THE ISLE OF THE CROSS and POEMS and just print what Delbanco said in the NEW REPUBLIC in 2002 about THE ISLE OF THE CROSS and POEMS. That way you can't possibly get in any legal trouble. Just quote them. And if you really want to be honest, quote what Delbanco said about those 2 lost books in 2005.

These two critics trashed my reputation for scholarly integrity, Brodhead by saying I alone in my "black hole" had surmised the existence of POEMS, Delbanco by saying I merely surmised both books and therefore should not be trusted in either volume.

These were horrifically damaging accusations, and they were false. All scholars had known about the 1853 book since 1960, although I did not discover the title until 1987. Everyone had known about POEMS since 1922.

Why can't the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION deal straightforwardly with what Brodhead and Delbanco did?

As it is, you have anonymous smears on your comments section. Would "flotsam" have been quite so contemptuous if you had honestly stated the cause of my complaints against these two critics?


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