I never write you because I don’t think you’ll see it, but, if you do, know that all your generous work during these Covid times has enriched not just our minds, but our spirits. If this were your last public letter, know that you have left an indelible eddy in the current of historical understanding. So many lives touched. So much heart and soul you have poured into those starving for it. With gratitude-
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is given "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool." Ms. Richardson has offered such distinguished commentary on a six days a week basis for now approximately 18 months. In this thread and otherwise, praise.. well justified, is offered for the quality of her letters, always informed, always beautifully written. But their luster should not obscure that the letters' distinction is grounded in good part on their almost daily appearance so that, taken collectively, they offer a running narrative of the socio-political terrain for that entire 18 month period. No journalist ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize for commentary has ever proffered anything like such a running narrative. There is no plausible basis for awarding the Prize to anyone else this go round, and if there is no rule against multiple awards for commentary, likely for many go rounds for so long as Ms. Richardson writes her letters.
Thank you for this informed post about the Pulitzer for Commentary. That makes it a real possibility, not just complimentary wishfulness. Now who would submit a nomination? And be sure to accord her the fully earned title of Dr. Richardson.
As to your query about nominations, the Pulitzer Prize website explains that the Pulitzer board awards the prizes based upon nominations submitted by panels of jurors (different panels for different categories). The panels in turn consider entries submitted by "newspapers, magazines or eligible news sites," the subcategory "eligible news sites" presumably including Substack, though without getting into the weeds of the Pulitizer rules this is not entirely clear.
As to your instruction that I "should be sure to accord her [Ms. Richardson] the fully earned title of Dr. Richardson," the instruction, while surely well meaning, is not well taken. Elite academics such as Ms. Richardson, who teach at distinguished colleges/universities (such as Boston College) and in a field (history) in which a Ph.D. is the terminal degree are rarely, if ever, referred to as "Dr. _____" by either their students, their colleagues, or college/university administrators. Professor Richardson yes, also simply "Ms. Richardson," also, maybe by her graduate students, "Heather." Newbies to these environments may initially misstep, but they quickly learn the terrain. Similarly, the one line summary bio accompanying an op-ed in the NYT or WAPO by, say, Timothy Snyder, the eminent Yale historian, would never refer to him as Dr. Snyder, but instead explain that "Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale." Or even "Timothy Snyder teaches history at Yale." There are several reasons for the referenced custom and practice, which has an element of so-called "humblebrag to it." (Similarly, the NYT may refer simply to "Yale," rather than "Yale University"; no need to tell anyone that Yale is an elite university). But the principal one is that at Boston College (or Yale, or at Cornell, you get the point), having "fully earned" a Ph.D. does not distinguish a faculty member from his or her tenure track or tenured colleagues for any purpose; everyone in that cohort, every one, has a Ph.D. In contrast, someone at a community college or high school who also holds an equally earned Ph.D. will almost invariably be referred to as "Dr." because in that institution, the title is a mark of distinction. In this context, referring to HCR as "Ms. Richardson," far from being a signal of my disrespect for her, as you suggest, recognizes that her enviable status is grounded on her earned accomplishments, including but by no means her letters, not her Ph.D. degree. Best regards.
Oh dear, I'll walk this back to speak for myself. I certainly do not speak for Dr. Richardson or other PhDs or PsyDs. I do not need to be patronized as a "newbie" with the nuances of academic titles. I stand with all those who called for Dr. Jill Biden to be accorded the due respect of her academic title. When this is an option to which a person is entitled, choosing Mr. or Ms. is diminishing. More than 50 years of feminism notwithstanding, the diminishment seems to be more commonly directed toward women. I am not easily insulted, but this level of disrespect I feel in my bones.
SO well said, describing what I could not have done. Thank you for speaking for me and others I'm sure, to how i/we wait thirsty for each next letter to help us understand, learn our history and feed our spirit!
Governor Abbot received a letter from me. It contained a history lesson that Communism failed because of its centralization of authority. The crops failed because the leaders back at the center of government made regulations that did not address the needs of the farmers who better knew what was needed. His position on masks and not letting the local officials and school district make the mandates that would be best for the situation they are in is what the Communists did. Rather enjoyed comparing the governor to a Communist.
Excellent, Cathy! I emailed my governor asking for a vaccine mandate, and I tweeted Pres. Biden the same. With the threat of delta, and the even greater threat of a mutation that might render the vaccine completely impotent against the virus, it's a matter of public health.
Of course you need to rest, dear Heather. Is it selfishness that, after feeding my demanding Maine coon cat, I grab my morning drink and eagerly sit down with my feet up and open your morning letter. Like a friend I love to hear from every morning? Is it selfishness or love of our country and wanting the best for all of us in this Great Experiment?
Is it also because, even on your quiet days, dear writer, I love reading the comments as they expand me, educate me, make me cry and laugh and connect me to a world of mostly loving, respectful and earnest people? They are the people I want to live and share the world with away from these battering, angertainment, fascist storms of the Alternative Reality. Thank you Heather and Heathersherd and other readers. I could barely withstand this insanity without all of you. May everyone find some peace this weekend in which to rejuvenate.
Except that my felines are not food demanders (thank the gods) and simply demand attention for about 2 minutes before going back to catting about, you have described my mornings to a "T".
I think we should all take a day to rest and to get out into nature.
Couldn't agree more about nature. Just sitting down for my second cup of coffee after my morning swim in the lake. I was asked recently two questions - if I meditate and if I exercise. I said that I don't exercise, because that sounds too arduous, but I swim and ride my bike and walk as much as I can fit into a week because that connection to the natural world during which I clear my mind is more like a meditation on trees, water, birds, fish, beavers, the sky, and my place among them.
💙💛💚❤! Yes! I take a morning bike ride then an afternoon swim in my lake, and walks in between, often barefoot in my yard. Feel the energy, see the fish, hear the loons, watch the trees dancing, nap on my deck. So blessed, the other 3 seasons as well. Clarity, hope, understanding so needed to carry on in these (terrible adjective du jour here) times.
Please take care of yourself. The quality of your writing is so high, you don't need to worry about the quantity. I get tons of emails and yours is one of the few I always open and read.
It so helpful to have someone with your depth of understanding and perspective on American history to take the care and time to share your expertise with us during this challenging time. Thank you and sleep well!
Beautiful photo! Rest well, Dr. Heather! You are a national treasure and should be sure to take care of yourself first, and I suspect more often than not, you probably don't get enough sleep. 💜 Sleep well and we'll see you tomorrow.
Here's wishing the professor pleasant dreams. And let us not forget that the Frances Perkins Center has invited us all to their Garden Party 2021 this Sunday (8/15) from 5-6 PM EDT. They will be bestowing our favorite historian with their Intelligence & Courage Award as well as honoring social activist Juana Rodriguez Vazquez. Rumor has it that the senior senator from Massachusetts, the esteemed Elizabeth Warren, will make an appearance as well. It appears that pre-registration is required. Onward thru the fog.
I have another paid substack subscription (The Brockovich Report) that costs more and delivers much less - and I get maybe one post a week from EB and her co-writer. And there are seldom more than one or two comments. The prof has definitely earned more than a night away!!! Definitely a Pulitzer.
The Pulitzer Prize entry site will reopen for the 2022 cycle in December 2021. Entry deadline: Jan. 25, 2021. Entry fee: $75 per entry - paid by credit card only.
As a retired pastor, I have written too many sermons tired. Once I asked one of my people, that was pretty bad. The woman squeezed her nose and said it was a stinker. After that, if I was too tired, we held an impromptu hymn sing. No one complained. LOL
I love the impromptu hymn sing! When my dad was out of town and couldn't give the sermon, my mom would step in. (It always offended my feminist heart that she would show her submissive position by preaching from the steps to the dais rather than standing behind the pulpit.) As she was a very gifted singer and pianist/organist, I think a praise through song session would have been very much in her line!
I am not trusting of the Census. Too much game playing. Who can trust anything, especially when they could work it to the GOPs advantage. What fun they'll have Gerrymandering. Need to pass voting rights asap! But, the filibuster ...
So glad to hear Heather say she loves to hear different perspectives. That's what it takes to come up with solutions that are better than any one solutions gives you. My favorite word is Synergy. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts or separate perspectives. I'd even like to start a Synergy party. The platform would be based on every policy and piece of legislature being measured by a Well-Being Index showing how the well-being of all the people is improved by that policy or law.
I hope you're getting some sleep. Thank you for this week's eye-opening letters and for another stunning reminder of how beautiful Maine is. My husband and I were married 37 years ago today and honeymooned near Rockland. The pictures you post of that area bring back so many wonderful memories.
I never write you because I don’t think you’ll see it, but, if you do, know that all your generous work during these Covid times has enriched not just our minds, but our spirits. If this were your last public letter, know that you have left an indelible eddy in the current of historical understanding. So many lives touched. So much heart and soul you have poured into those starving for it. With gratitude-
Beautifully said, and I could not agree more. Thank you for saying it so well.
Well said! I think Heather deserves the Pulizter Prize for all that she has given to us all.
The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is given "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool." Ms. Richardson has offered such distinguished commentary on a six days a week basis for now approximately 18 months. In this thread and otherwise, praise.. well justified, is offered for the quality of her letters, always informed, always beautifully written. But their luster should not obscure that the letters' distinction is grounded in good part on their almost daily appearance so that, taken collectively, they offer a running narrative of the socio-political terrain for that entire 18 month period. No journalist ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize for commentary has ever proffered anything like such a running narrative. There is no plausible basis for awarding the Prize to anyone else this go round, and if there is no rule against multiple awards for commentary, likely for many go rounds for so long as Ms. Richardson writes her letters.
Thank you for this informed post about the Pulitzer for Commentary. That makes it a real possibility, not just complimentary wishfulness. Now who would submit a nomination? And be sure to accord her the fully earned title of Dr. Richardson.
Ms. Kona:
Thank you for your post.
As to your query about nominations, the Pulitzer Prize website explains that the Pulitzer board awards the prizes based upon nominations submitted by panels of jurors (different panels for different categories). The panels in turn consider entries submitted by "newspapers, magazines or eligible news sites," the subcategory "eligible news sites" presumably including Substack, though without getting into the weeds of the Pulitizer rules this is not entirely clear.
As to your instruction that I "should be sure to accord her [Ms. Richardson] the fully earned title of Dr. Richardson," the instruction, while surely well meaning, is not well taken. Elite academics such as Ms. Richardson, who teach at distinguished colleges/universities (such as Boston College) and in a field (history) in which a Ph.D. is the terminal degree are rarely, if ever, referred to as "Dr. _____" by either their students, their colleagues, or college/university administrators. Professor Richardson yes, also simply "Ms. Richardson," also, maybe by her graduate students, "Heather." Newbies to these environments may initially misstep, but they quickly learn the terrain. Similarly, the one line summary bio accompanying an op-ed in the NYT or WAPO by, say, Timothy Snyder, the eminent Yale historian, would never refer to him as Dr. Snyder, but instead explain that "Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale." Or even "Timothy Snyder teaches history at Yale." There are several reasons for the referenced custom and practice, which has an element of so-called "humblebrag to it." (Similarly, the NYT may refer simply to "Yale," rather than "Yale University"; no need to tell anyone that Yale is an elite university). But the principal one is that at Boston College (or Yale, or at Cornell, you get the point), having "fully earned" a Ph.D. does not distinguish a faculty member from his or her tenure track or tenured colleagues for any purpose; everyone in that cohort, every one, has a Ph.D. In contrast, someone at a community college or high school who also holds an equally earned Ph.D. will almost invariably be referred to as "Dr." because in that institution, the title is a mark of distinction. In this context, referring to HCR as "Ms. Richardson," far from being a signal of my disrespect for her, as you suggest, recognizes that her enviable status is grounded on her earned accomplishments, including but by no means her letters, not her Ph.D. degree. Best regards.
Oh dear, I'll walk this back to speak for myself. I certainly do not speak for Dr. Richardson or other PhDs or PsyDs. I do not need to be patronized as a "newbie" with the nuances of academic titles. I stand with all those who called for Dr. Jill Biden to be accorded the due respect of her academic title. When this is an option to which a person is entitled, choosing Mr. or Ms. is diminishing. More than 50 years of feminism notwithstanding, the diminishment seems to be more commonly directed toward women. I am not easily insulted, but this level of disrespect I feel in my bones.
Agree, wholeheartedly.
I agree 100%. Thank you Heather, you’ve taught me so much, and gotten me through these difficult times!
SO well said, describing what I could not have done. Thank you for speaking for me and others I'm sure, to how i/we wait thirsty for each next letter to help us understand, learn our history and feed our spirit!
You write, " . . . an indelible eddy in the current of historical understanding." Eloquently poetic! I may borrow it!
Exactly. Thank you.
Sleep! Sleep! You owe us no apology for taking care of yourself. We owe you far more than you owe us. With deep respect and admiration, always, daria
Governor Abbot received a letter from me. It contained a history lesson that Communism failed because of its centralization of authority. The crops failed because the leaders back at the center of government made regulations that did not address the needs of the farmers who better knew what was needed. His position on masks and not letting the local officials and school district make the mandates that would be best for the situation they are in is what the Communists did. Rather enjoyed comparing the governor to a Communist.
Hey, Cathy, send me a copy of your letter so I can copy it and send it to Governor DeathSantis. (you know how to reach me!)
Brilliant analogy, Cathy!
You rock, Cathy! Thanks for your writing efforts---may each one ripple out and reverberate in the universe. Sharing with us made it so.
a rogue is a rogue is a rogue
Excellent, Cathy! I emailed my governor asking for a vaccine mandate, and I tweeted Pres. Biden the same. With the threat of delta, and the even greater threat of a mutation that might render the vaccine completely impotent against the virus, it's a matter of public health.
YES!! Well done Cathy!!
Well done!
Right on, Cathy!!👏🏼👏🏼
Of course you need to rest, dear Heather. Is it selfishness that, after feeding my demanding Maine coon cat, I grab my morning drink and eagerly sit down with my feet up and open your morning letter. Like a friend I love to hear from every morning? Is it selfishness or love of our country and wanting the best for all of us in this Great Experiment?
Is it also because, even on your quiet days, dear writer, I love reading the comments as they expand me, educate me, make me cry and laugh and connect me to a world of mostly loving, respectful and earnest people? They are the people I want to live and share the world with away from these battering, angertainment, fascist storms of the Alternative Reality. Thank you Heather and Heathersherd and other readers. I could barely withstand this insanity without all of you. May everyone find some peace this weekend in which to rejuvenate.
Except that my felines are not food demanders (thank the gods) and simply demand attention for about 2 minutes before going back to catting about, you have described my mornings to a "T".
I think we should all take a day to rest and to get out into nature.
Yes! Nature is my temple. Con-templ-ation. Will have to look up the etymology later! Need to go do it!
Couldn't agree more about nature. Just sitting down for my second cup of coffee after my morning swim in the lake. I was asked recently two questions - if I meditate and if I exercise. I said that I don't exercise, because that sounds too arduous, but I swim and ride my bike and walk as much as I can fit into a week because that connection to the natural world during which I clear my mind is more like a meditation on trees, water, birds, fish, beavers, the sky, and my place among them.
💙💛💚❤! Yes! I take a morning bike ride then an afternoon swim in my lake, and walks in between, often barefoot in my yard. Feel the energy, see the fish, hear the loons, watch the trees dancing, nap on my deck. So blessed, the other 3 seasons as well. Clarity, hope, understanding so needed to carry on in these (terrible adjective du jour here) times.
Here here!
You reflect my mornings after feeding the pups, sitting down with a cup of coffee, and turning on my computer. 💕
Please take care of yourself. The quality of your writing is so high, you don't need to worry about the quantity. I get tons of emails and yours is one of the few I always open and read.
Exactly!
Me too!
It so helpful to have someone with your depth of understanding and perspective on American history to take the care and time to share your expertise with us during this challenging time. Thank you and sleep well!
Beautiful photo! Rest well, Dr. Heather! You are a national treasure and should be sure to take care of yourself first, and I suspect more often than not, you probably don't get enough sleep. 💜 Sleep well and we'll see you tomorrow.
Here's wishing the professor pleasant dreams. And let us not forget that the Frances Perkins Center has invited us all to their Garden Party 2021 this Sunday (8/15) from 5-6 PM EDT. They will be bestowing our favorite historian with their Intelligence & Courage Award as well as honoring social activist Juana Rodriguez Vazquez. Rumor has it that the senior senator from Massachusetts, the esteemed Elizabeth Warren, will make an appearance as well. It appears that pre-registration is required. Onward thru the fog.
Wow, thanks, Nor'wTrip: https://francesperkinscenter.org/2021-garden-party-honorees/
Sunday, 5PM EDT, on zoom. See you ‘there'
Fabulous! Garden party!
And remember, come appropriately dressed for a “Zoom Garden Par-tyyy!"
Just 30 minutes from me, a short drive, but just as far on zoom for everyone!
Wonderful! Congrats Prof. Heather! You do US proud.
I saw that double-entendre! She certainly does her country and its people proud.
Registered! Thank you!
I (we) hope you know you can take more than just one night away and we’d be more than okay with it.
Oh, don't say that too loudly! ;-)
I have another paid substack subscription (The Brockovich Report) that costs more and delivers much less - and I get maybe one post a week from EB and her co-writer. And there are seldom more than one or two comments. The prof has definitely earned more than a night away!!! Definitely a Pulitzer.
The Pulitzer Prize entry site will reopen for the 2022 cycle in December 2021. Entry deadline: Jan. 25, 2021. Entry fee: $75 per entry - paid by credit card only.
https://entrysite.pulitzer.org/
https://entrysite.pulitzer.org/node/10
Rest you amazing person, rest. The photo is gorgeous.
Please rest well, and maybe...more often? You are a treasure, and we want to make sure you are around for a very long time.
As a retired pastor, I have written too many sermons tired. Once I asked one of my people, that was pretty bad. The woman squeezed her nose and said it was a stinker. After that, if I was too tired, we held an impromptu hymn sing. No one complained. LOL
I love the impromptu hymn sing! When my dad was out of town and couldn't give the sermon, my mom would step in. (It always offended my feminist heart that she would show her submissive position by preaching from the steps to the dais rather than standing behind the pulpit.) As she was a very gifted singer and pianist/organist, I think a praise through song session would have been very much in her line!
I am not trusting of the Census. Too much game playing. Who can trust anything, especially when they could work it to the GOPs advantage. What fun they'll have Gerrymandering. Need to pass voting rights asap! But, the filibuster ...
So glad to hear Heather say she loves to hear different perspectives. That's what it takes to come up with solutions that are better than any one solutions gives you. My favorite word is Synergy. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts or separate perspectives. I'd even like to start a Synergy party. The platform would be based on every policy and piece of legislature being measured by a Well-Being Index showing how the well-being of all the people is improved by that policy or law.
I love this idea! Synergy is a way of life.
Fab Cathy. I live by synergy…especially in the spiritual reserves that constantly need our replenishment. Gratitude.
1+ 1=3
I hope you're getting some sleep. Thank you for this week's eye-opening letters and for another stunning reminder of how beautiful Maine is. My husband and I were married 37 years ago today and honeymooned near Rockland. The pictures you post of that area bring back so many wonderful memories.
Happy Anniversary, Ruth!!
Congratulations!
Happy Anniversary! No doubt you've travelled many trails since Rockland.
Blessings, Ruth.
Happy Anniversary!
Fantastic photo. Shades of Constable or early Turner. Rest well