by NELSON P. VALDES
May 06, 2014
A Radical Humanist
Saul Landau: Make It Better
I would like to add my voice and memories to the recognition
and honors paid to Saul Landau, a Cuban, a North American,
and universal man of many talents who was friend, poet,
writer, popular teacher, university professor,
documentalist and filmmaker, a radical, a humanist, a
defender of just and democratic causes, an iconoclast, a
journalist, a radio worker, a historian, an athlete, a
father, a grandfather, a friend of thousands and certainly
an example to all.
He was also a master of the pen, the microphone, the TV camera, the pulpit, and friendship. He wrote novels; he organized and established organizations like the Institute for Policy Studies, the National Security Archives, the Center for Cuban Studies, and Holland’s Transnational Institute. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and wrote a remarkable master’s degree thesis. He also went to Stanford. He published 14 books and 50 documentaries and films, and wrote more than 500 articles and as many book reviews. And he was mentor to hundreds.
He was also a master of the pen, the microphone, the TV camera, the pulpit, and friendship. He wrote novels; he organized and established organizations like the Institute for Policy Studies, the National Security Archives, the Center for Cuban Studies, and Holland’s Transnational Institute. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and wrote a remarkable master’s degree thesis. He also went to Stanford. He published 14 books and 50 documentaries and films, and wrote more than 500 articles and as many book reviews. And he was mentor to hundreds.
José Martí once said at Hardman Hall, in New York, on October 10, 1890: “A true man does not seek the path where the advantage lies, but rather where duty is found…” Saul, who was born just a few blocks from there, lived his life exactly as Marti suggested.
Saul was born on January 15, 1936 in the Bronx, New York, in a neighborhood brimming with Jews, Blacks, Catholics, Irish, Russians and Latinos. As a child, he saw his neighborhood demographically grow at a very rapid rate, almost as fast as the subway trains he used to take. Central and Eastern European Jews accounted for the majority of the population at a time when they were –politically speaking– the American left’s one of the most influential sector. Saul told me that he didn’t remember his father, who owned a pharmacy, as a left-winger. However, his urban environment was.
The Jewish intellectual tradition joined the Black one –the “Harlem Renaissance”– precisely as Saul was growing up. As a high-school student he was already taking part in progressive actions. He was a young leftist when he went to study in Wisconsin. Together with other personalities such as Tom Hayden, James O’Connor and Lee Baxandall, he created what would be known as the new left, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and other organizations.
He founded the journals Studies on the Left and Ramparts. He helped C. Wright Mills with his book Listen, Yankee and together they edited the book The Marxists. But Mills was not the only renowned sociologist that Saul collaborated with when he was barely 23. There was also Max Weber’s best student –Hans Gerth– with whom Saul wrote a famous essay in 1960 about the integration of history and sociology. Gerth was already in his sixties.
Saul’s life deserves a detailed biography. The FBI, considered Saul a bad example for the rest of humanity and accumulated over 15,000 classified documents on him.
I had the chance to talk with Saul every day over the phone, more than once. We did so every day for the last five years. He connected many of us, through his phone calls. We also wrote articles for CounterPunch and other venues. I remember the sequence for each article. He would start an article one week and I would do the same the following one. I remember that every time he sent me his draft he would tell me, “Make it better”. Such was, basically, his daily philosophy: make the world better. To Saul, that was a DUTY. And that is how we should remember him.
[These words were read in Havana, Cuba, on December 18,
2013]
Nelson P. Valdes is Professor Emeritus at the
University of New Mexico.A CubaNews translation. Edited by
Walter Lippmann.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Saul Landau: Make It Better*
por Nelson P Valdés
Quisiera unir mi voz y memoria en reconocer a Saul Landau, cubano,
norteamericano, hombre universal. De numerosos talentos, amigo, poeta,
escritor, maestro popular, profesor universitario, documentalista,
film-maker, radical, humanista, defensor de las causas justas y
democráticas, iconoclasta, periodista, trabajador de la radio,
historiador, deportista, padre, abuelo, amigo de miles, ejemplo para
toda la humanidad. Maestro de la pluma, el micrófono, la cámara de
televisión y cine, el teléfono, el púlpito y la amistad.
Saul escribió novelas, fué profesor, organizador y creador de
organizaciones - tales como el Institute for Policy Studies, National
Security Archives, Center for Cuban Studies, Transnational Institute (Holanda).
Se graduó de la Universidad de Wisconsin y escribió una tesis de
maestría extraordinaria, estudió en Stanford también. Publicó 14 libros,
50 documentales y películas. Escribió más de 500 artículos e igual
número de reseñas de libros. Y fue mentor de cientos.
Dijo Martí en Hardman Hall, de Nueva York, el 10 de octubre de 1890:
"...el verdadero hombre no mira de qué lado se vive mejor, sino de qué
lado está el deber...". Saul quien nació a pocas cuadras de allí vivió
su vida tal como lo sugirió Martí.
Saul nació el 15 de Enero de 1936 en el Bronx, en New York. En un barrio
donde habían judíos, negros, católicos, irlandeses, rusos, latinos.
Cuando Saul era niño su barrio crecía demográficamente a un ritmo más
que rápido, casi tan rápido como el subway el cual conoció de muchacho.
Los judíos de Europa central y oriental era el sector mayoritario. Eran
los tiempos en que los judíos - políticamente - eran el sector más
influyente de la izquierda norteamericana. Saul me dijo que él no
recordaba que su padre, dueño de una farmacia - fuera un hombre de
izquierda. Sin embargo, el ambiente urbano en que vivió sí era de
izquierda. La tradición intelectual judía se une junto a la negra - el
"Harlem Renaissance" se manifiesta en los precisos momentos en que Saul
crece. Ya en bachillerato participa en actividades progresistas. Es un
joven hombre de izquierda cuando se va a estudiar a Wisconsin. Inicia
junto a otras personalidades como Tom Hayden, James O'Connor y Lee
Baxandall lo que sería la nueva izquierda, el Fair Play for Cuba
Committee y otras organizaciones.
Fundó la revista Studies on the Left y Ramparts. Ayudó a
C. Wright Mills con su libro Listen Yankee y también edito con
Mills el libro The Marxists. Pero Mills no fue el único sociólogo
de renombre con el cual colaboró con apenas 23 años de edad. También lo
hizo con el mejor estudiante de Max Weber - Hans Gerth, con quién
escribió un ensayo famoso - en 1960 - sobre la integración de la
historia y la sociología. Gerth ya tenía más de 60.
La vida de Saul merece una biografía detallada. El FBI, al considerar su
vida un mal ejemplo para el resto de la humanidad, tiene 15,000
documentos clasificados sobre él.
Tuve la oportunidad de escribir con Saul durante los últimos 5 años,
casi diariamente. Recuerdo que una semana el iniciaba el artículo, La
siguiente semana yo lo hacía. Recuerdo que cuando me enviaba sus
originales me decía "make it better." Esa fué, en sí,
su filosofía diaria: haz el mundo mejor. Para Saul eso era un DEBER. Es
así como debiéramos recordarle.
[Estas palabras fueron leídas el 18 de Diciembre 2013 en La Habana,
Cuba]
http://cuba-l.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.html#639994860708759416