The Passing of Manning Marable
From: Manning Marable
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2003 4:55 PM
To: Peterson, Audrey
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Dear Audrey,
Thanks for your email. I may have told you about my chronic illness, sarcoidosis, which my physician now says probably was responsible for elevating my calcium levels, which led to the creation of kidney stones. Anyway, the bad news is that I've just learned that the ilnness, which was in remission for seven years, is now active again, and I'm going to have to devote more time just to health maintenance.
To make a long story short, this means that I will need to cut back on some writing projects I wanted to do this summer, and unfortunately that included my article ideas for your magazine. Don't worry--I have a sabbatical leave in 2004 so I'm sure that I'll be able to contribute something of value to your excellent publication.
Yours,
Manning
-----Original Message-----
From: Peterson, Audrey [mailto:APeterson@forbes.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:21 PM
To: Manning Marable
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Wow, I'm sorry about the attack--I hear they rank right up there with the worst pain a human can have.
We talked about a piece on affirmative action,Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Ed. etc. There were other things, too, but that was the first thing we talked about.
Audrey
From: Manning Marable
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:17 PM
To: Peterson, Audrey
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Dear Audrey,
Thanks for your note. Several days after our lunch I fell victim to a severe attack of kidney stones. I was seriously out of commission for about a five days, but I'm fine again now.
I neglected to take notes during our conversation, so I don't immediately remember which of my ideas for articles was most interesting to you. Please jog my memory and I'll get back to you.
Manning
-----Original Message-----
From: Peterson, Audrey [mailto:APeterson@forbes.com]
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 1:23 PM
To: Manning Marable (E-mail)
Subject: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Hi, Manning,
Just checking in on what we talked about at the lunch. Are you still interested? Also, look for a package of books from me.
Talk to you soon!
Audrey
When I heard that the brilliant Manning Marable had died, I can't rightly describe to you how I felt. Sadder than I should have about a man whom I only knew professionally. Sad because I would not have another "annual" lunch in the dining room of Columbia University. Sadder still, though, for we the people, who had lost a gentleman and scholar of the highest order. All of the things that should be said about Manning have been said by people who knew him better and loved him more. My memories are small in comparison. I will tell you what, though. He was real, in every sense of the word. During our conversations, he always meant what he said. No subtext, although his beautiful mind was capable of layer upon layer of subtlety, interpretation, understanding.
He gave his vast knowledge to everyone, took time out of his incredibly busy schedule (he's left us scores of books and writings that will be invaluable to black scholarship, among them The Great Wells of Democracy: The Meaning of Race in American Life). Just a few days after his death, he gave us Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, which, according to a friend who was looking to buy a first edition at the Strand, is apparently in its third printing. There are those who are praising it; others are criticizing it as scurrilous and poorly researched.
I haven't read the book yet, so I cannot talk about it. What I can say is that from all of the conversations I had with Manning about his Malcolm X research, not once did he present information to me as fact without a credible source. Speculation was always purely off the record—he insisted (and there was some speculation that I could have easily printed in American Legacy to stir controversy and gain us much-needed press; it will be interesting to see if he was able to verify any of it and include it in his book). If he was trying to grab the spotlight, be a media whore, he was doing a poor job of it. This was a man who looked you straight in the eyes when he spoke. His charm was genuine but not always "turned on" for the cameras. Real.
I feel qualified in saying that Manning's goal has always been to reveal the full character and personality of Malcolm X, not perpetuate the two-dimensional icon. I learned that when we worked on a cover story on Manning's work on Malcolm for Legacy in 2002, right around the time when one of Malcolm's daughters lost his personal Koran and various other important papers because she defaulted on paying a storage charge. It was splashed all over the news, another one of Malcolm's progeny gone wrong, a topic in which mainstream media delights. I don't recall exactly what Manning said about it to me, but I remember his voice was full of empathy. And that was it.
I haven't read the book yet I know more about the homosexual affair Malcolm supposedly had with a white man than anything else in the 608-page book. I'm especially sad that people who should know better choose to talk about this over anything else. But then again, if not for the sensationalism, perhaps those who knew nothing about him would still not know what a national treasure Manning was and is. Mostly I wish he were here to get us back on track and refocus. I wish I could turn on NPR and hear his voice, or see him on Democracy Now! schooling us. I wish I could have one more lunch.
compressedmalcolm
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2003 4:55 PM
To: Peterson, Audrey
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Dear Audrey,
Thanks for your email. I may have told you about my chronic illness, sarcoidosis, which my physician now says probably was responsible for elevating my calcium levels, which led to the creation of kidney stones. Anyway, the bad news is that I've just learned that the ilnness, which was in remission for seven years, is now active again, and I'm going to have to devote more time just to health maintenance.
To make a long story short, this means that I will need to cut back on some writing projects I wanted to do this summer, and unfortunately that included my article ideas for your magazine. Don't worry--I have a sabbatical leave in 2004 so I'm sure that I'll be able to contribute something of value to your excellent publication.
Yours,
Manning
-----Original Message-----
From: Peterson, Audrey [mailto:APeterson@forbes.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:21 PM
To: Manning Marable
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Wow, I'm sorry about the attack--I hear they rank right up there with the worst pain a human can have.
We talked about a piece on affirmative action,Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Ed. etc. There were other things, too, but that was the first thing we talked about.
Audrey
From: Manning Marable
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:17 PM
To: Peterson, Audrey
Subject: RE: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Dear Audrey,
Thanks for your note. Several days after our lunch I fell victim to a severe attack of kidney stones. I was seriously out of commission for about a five days, but I'm fine again now.
I neglected to take notes during our conversation, so I don't immediately remember which of my ideas for articles was most interesting to you. Please jog my memory and I'll get back to you.
Manning
-----Original Message-----
From: Peterson, Audrey [mailto:APeterson@forbes.com]
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 1:23 PM
To: Manning Marable (E-mail)
Subject: Affirmative Action, Brown v. Board of Education, et. al
Hi, Manning,
Just checking in on what we talked about at the lunch. Are you still interested? Also, look for a package of books from me.
Talk to you soon!
Audrey
When I heard that the brilliant Manning Marable had died, I can't rightly describe to you how I felt. Sadder than I should have about a man whom I only knew professionally. Sad because I would not have another "annual" lunch in the dining room of Columbia University. Sadder still, though, for we the people, who had lost a gentleman and scholar of the highest order. All of the things that should be said about Manning have been said by people who knew him better and loved him more. My memories are small in comparison. I will tell you what, though. He was real, in every sense of the word. During our conversations, he always meant what he said. No subtext, although his beautiful mind was capable of layer upon layer of subtlety, interpretation, understanding.
He gave his vast knowledge to everyone, took time out of his incredibly busy schedule (he's left us scores of books and writings that will be invaluable to black scholarship, among them The Great Wells of Democracy: The Meaning of Race in American Life). Just a few days after his death, he gave us Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, which, according to a friend who was looking to buy a first edition at the Strand, is apparently in its third printing. There are those who are praising it; others are criticizing it as scurrilous and poorly researched.
I haven't read the book yet, so I cannot talk about it. What I can say is that from all of the conversations I had with Manning about his Malcolm X research, not once did he present information to me as fact without a credible source. Speculation was always purely off the record—he insisted (and there was some speculation that I could have easily printed in American Legacy to stir controversy and gain us much-needed press; it will be interesting to see if he was able to verify any of it and include it in his book). If he was trying to grab the spotlight, be a media whore, he was doing a poor job of it. This was a man who looked you straight in the eyes when he spoke. His charm was genuine but not always "turned on" for the cameras. Real.
I feel qualified in saying that Manning's goal has always been to reveal the full character and personality of Malcolm X, not perpetuate the two-dimensional icon. I learned that when we worked on a cover story on Manning's work on Malcolm for Legacy in 2002, right around the time when one of Malcolm's daughters lost his personal Koran and various other important papers because she defaulted on paying a storage charge. It was splashed all over the news, another one of Malcolm's progeny gone wrong, a topic in which mainstream media delights. I don't recall exactly what Manning said about it to me, but I remember his voice was full of empathy. And that was it.
I haven't read the book yet I know more about the homosexual affair Malcolm supposedly had with a white man than anything else in the 608-page book. I'm especially sad that people who should know better choose to talk about this over anything else. But then again, if not for the sensationalism, perhaps those who knew nothing about him would still not know what a national treasure Manning was and is. Mostly I wish he were here to get us back on track and refocus. I wish I could turn on NPR and hear his voice, or see him on Democracy Now! schooling us. I wish I could have one more lunch.
compressedmalcolm
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