Allan Pred (1936-2007): Perfect Pitch

摘要

Our heavily individualised culture tends to see a person's legacy as a kind of scorecard: I suspect it won't be long before lives are awarded numbers of stars just like movies and restaurants. But there is no way to make good the death of a friend and colleague who added so much into the world, who produced care and commitment in situations that others would have left blank. You just can't sum it up. Allan Pred's life was a work that was much bigger than himself. He had what I will call perfect pitch, both in the sense that he was able to resonate so well with so many people and in the sense that he was able to throw so many intellectual and practical home runs.