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A special condolence from a special correspondent

October 21, 2020

In Blog News

Dear Norm,

I write to express my warm condolences on the anniversary of the passing of your mother. I just finished your book on Gandhi and am halfway through Beyond Chutzpah, and I can tell it’s true what you said, I think in your speech at Chicago after the tenure battle, that you write with the moral passion that your parents instilled in you at a young age.
I bought a voice recorder for my college classes, and I keep on it all of Maryla’s interviews I could find on the internet (totaling about 4 hours). I listen to them whenever I need a pick-me-up, either a laugh or a dose of courage. Maryla seemed to have unimpeachable integrity and a big heart. As Paul Robeson would say, “the purest kind of a [gal],” one of the good people of the world.
If you need some spiritual succor:
Backwater Blues–Bessie Smith
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
After you’ve gone
Steal Away to Jesus–Fisk Singers
Bear the Burden
I hope you’ve been well.
Kind wishes,
–Townson Cocke