This was a news article that I only recently ran into. Yet, it certainly seemed worth sharing here.
Kurt Vonnegut has been one of my very favorite authors for a long time. I enjoy his writing style, as well as his humanism. I also enjoy his often weird stories, which are unpredictable but fun, and deceptively simple. In fact, he makes a lot of very valid points along the way, and encourages the reader to think about things, about the world and how we treat one another.
Also, I grew up watching some Carl Sagan documentaries, particularly when he famously hosted Cosmos. He was a famous personality, a bona fide celebrity, and probably the main person whom I associated with science, and the fascinating possibilities that could be tapped over time with science and technology. Later in life, however, I was a bit more mature. and so I got to understand and appreciate him and what he was saying more fully, it was more than just his science, but his entire outlook on life which came to impress me.
Both Vonnegut and Sagan were men of science and technology. They were also both very interesting and intellectual. Obviously, also, both were highly successful, becoming famous in their respective fields. One a writer of fiction, the other a noted scientist and intellectual in the elite marbled halls of American academia.
So it is not all that surprising to me that these two men would win up fostering a friendship between one another. Both were men of science - remember, Vonnegut came from a family of scientists, and was pretty knowledgeable on science himself - and both also were humanists. Thus, it makes total sense that these two men would prove to be friends, and that they would appreciate each other.
The individual bodies of work for both men speaks for themselves. But there is also a genuine warmth and humanity which, I think in these days, we can appreciate more over time. These were men of substance, and in these rather shallow times, it is nice to delve a little bit into their worlds, when legitimate decency and values and a sense of scientific responsibility actually was capably given voice by both. Indeed, that is part of the reason why they are missed today.
Since November 9th marked Sagan's birthday, and November 11th marks Vonnegut's birthday, it felt like this blog entry was appropriate, meeting right in the middle, in between their birthdays. Honoring the legacy and memory of both of these great men.
Take a look at the article linked below. It explores the friendship which existed between the two.
We sure could use men like those two again these days.
Two Good Humans: The Friendship Between Carl Sagan and Kurt Vonnegut BY PATRICK PARR • 23 MARCH 2021
https://thehumanist.com/magazine//features/two-good-humans-the-friendship-between-carl-sagan-and-kurt-vonnegut/?fbclid=IwAR1C7lLHMD-E8UvetxYMv63Ozsh3yEQ5hcFwr1G-fDvIRAbLVB613tIaCxc
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