It is an honor (and perhaps also a burden) to share not only the name but also the birthday of your father. I have also decided (for now) to take a “responsible” profession in software and data (though I don’t know how morally or socially responsible that can be). This is in contrast to my early love for animals and drawing, my tenor voice which my friends adore, and my desire to one day write and illustrate some kind of story. But through your writings, I am learning to read, listen to music, love the arts, and renounce “naturalism” for the most beautiful vision of reality I have ever encountered, and for that I thank you. And as our world falls once again into conflict and darkness, I can only hope to emulate your father’s kindness, and perhaps even have a mustard seed’s worth of his bravery to fight for something good.
Also, I will be baptized into the Episcopal Church on December 28.
Happy birthday to your father, and (soon) to Christ.
Thank you very much for sharing the story snippets about your father, who was clearly a man deeply loved by his family and friends. I wouldn’t dare to compare his extraordinary life to mine, but at least in one respect I feel I understand him as I also chose the “responsible” life by becoming a lawyer. Unlike him, however, I don’t possess any special talents. Still, in high school I dreamt of becoming a historian.
However, I must say that the pictures you posted are surprising in two respects. First, why is your father holding a football rather than a baseball bat? And second, where is the famous Hart beard in his middle-aged years? Did it fall victim to the demands of a "respectable" life? At least he grew it in old age.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, and to all the wonderful people reading this Substack.
A very touching review of your father. My father spent 3 plus years in the Pacific, and when I hear the garbage coming out of the mouth of Dump and his enablers, it makes me so mad thinking that men like our fathers sacrificed the prime of their lives for that.
"I know too much about my father to be able to say much about him. I am too keenly conscious of how little any of us can convey in words of what we know about those we love." This alone would have made it worth reading this post. But it is much more than that.
What a marvellous testament to your father, he seems like a lovely man. The photo with the pooch says all the things you never could and in polyphonic harmony too. Merry Christmas, log-crackling Yuletide to you and fellow readers of this newsletter.
p.s. I wish to congratulate that young interviewer on a splendidly novelistic name! Just think of the adventures that await him.
Your point in the interview about humans mimicking AI 'writing styles' highlights a truly frightening implication of the technology. "The results show there is a strong correlation between bot and human tweets, and that the content of bot tweets significantly influences linguistic aspects of human generated tweets. In simpler terms, human tweets replicated bot tweets to a high degree." - https://theconversation.com/how-ai-bots-spread-misinformation-online-and-undermine-democratic-politics-234915
Thanks for this and everything else you so generously share here, David! Merry Christmas to you, your family and everyone who meets with you here. I know I'm not alone in feeling that this place is a sanctuary. Peace. Blessings.
It is an honor (and perhaps also a burden) to share not only the name but also the birthday of your father. I have also decided (for now) to take a “responsible” profession in software and data (though I don’t know how morally or socially responsible that can be). This is in contrast to my early love for animals and drawing, my tenor voice which my friends adore, and my desire to one day write and illustrate some kind of story. But through your writings, I am learning to read, listen to music, love the arts, and renounce “naturalism” for the most beautiful vision of reality I have ever encountered, and for that I thank you. And as our world falls once again into conflict and darkness, I can only hope to emulate your father’s kindness, and perhaps even have a mustard seed’s worth of his bravery to fight for something good.
Also, I will be baptized into the Episcopal Church on December 28.
Happy birthday to your father, and (soon) to Christ.
I miss him all the time. Apropos of nothing, I spent a lot of yesterday thinking about him, having wholly forgotten that today would be his birthday.
This is lovely. Dec. 13 was the centenary of my grandmother's birth. Perhaps they passed each other on the street somewhere.
Dear Dr. Hart,
Thank you very much for sharing the story snippets about your father, who was clearly a man deeply loved by his family and friends. I wouldn’t dare to compare his extraordinary life to mine, but at least in one respect I feel I understand him as I also chose the “responsible” life by becoming a lawyer. Unlike him, however, I don’t possess any special talents. Still, in high school I dreamt of becoming a historian.
However, I must say that the pictures you posted are surprising in two respects. First, why is your father holding a football rather than a baseball bat? And second, where is the famous Hart beard in his middle-aged years? Did it fall victim to the demands of a "respectable" life? At least he grew it in old age.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, and to all the wonderful people reading this Substack.
Merry Christmas, and a prayer for new beginnings:
“As this day follows the night...
Let me start my life anew.
As the Shore is scoured by the Tide
Let me be cleansed.
That the Seed becomes the Flower...
Let me be born again.”
A very touching review of your father. My father spent 3 plus years in the Pacific, and when I hear the garbage coming out of the mouth of Dump and his enablers, it makes me so mad thinking that men like our fathers sacrificed the prime of their lives for that.
"I know too much about my father to be able to say much about him. I am too keenly conscious of how little any of us can convey in words of what we know about those we love." This alone would have made it worth reading this post. But it is much more than that.
that so few words could speak in me what I must always already have known makes me feel less alone in the world
The dog in your dad’s lap look just like our current 2-year-old mixed terrier named, Echo. Words cannot properly describe a beloved pet in a lap.
Merry Christmas to Dr. Hart and to the readers of "Leaves in the Wind." Thank you for sharing a bit of your father with us. You look like him.
What a marvellous testament to your father, he seems like a lovely man. The photo with the pooch says all the things you never could and in polyphonic harmony too. Merry Christmas, log-crackling Yuletide to you and fellow readers of this newsletter.
p.s. I wish to congratulate that young interviewer on a splendidly novelistic name! Just think of the adventures that await him.
Your point in the interview about humans mimicking AI 'writing styles' highlights a truly frightening implication of the technology. "The results show there is a strong correlation between bot and human tweets, and that the content of bot tweets significantly influences linguistic aspects of human generated tweets. In simpler terms, human tweets replicated bot tweets to a high degree." - https://theconversation.com/how-ai-bots-spread-misinformation-online-and-undermine-democratic-politics-234915
It’s a stirring testimony on your father. That kindness is possible when one is exposed to cruel circumstances gives me hope.
Thanks for this and everything else you so generously share here, David! Merry Christmas to you, your family and everyone who meets with you here. I know I'm not alone in feeling that this place is a sanctuary. Peace. Blessings.
Merry Christmas Dr Hart, and thank you for being a lamp in a very dark year.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your dad. Merry Christmas!
Memory eternal.