Two gay writers from Chicago have held a
great impact on my intellectual life.
The first, the social philosopher and poet Jon-Henri Damski whose
philosophical library I accidentally inherited, and Paul Varnell, a Chicago-based
writer and social philosopher.
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| Jon-Henri Damski, courtesy Wiki Dig Planet |
I really came to know Damski (1937-1997)
through his library – a bulk purchase ($1 per volume of Plato, Aristotle,
Heidigger, Hume, Hegel and classical commentaries) at the second-hand shop,
Brown Elephant. His thick outlines and copious side-notations have served as an
enlightened tutorial into the work of the Continental Englightenment and German
Hegelian philosophy. This is amazing
given Damski's dysfunctional childhood and what I learned was a life-long
struggle with dyslexia. Through this
happenstance library, he has served as useful a guide to me as has Karl Popper
and the Jesuits.
Damski was a nuts and bolts philosopher – you
see his "delicate hammer" chiseling away at the passages, until he
has uncovered a useful thread upon which to string his thoughts and felt free
to continue on to the next concept. In
many ways he reminds me of the Canadian philosopher, George Grant. I did not know Damski as a writer until I Googled
the name in the books and found his writings in the library. Damski is a true blue-collar intellectual who
taught me how to properly read philosophy.
I actually knew Paul Varnell (1942 - 2011)
through my work in the community press in the Midwest. At a time when the mainstream writers were
caught up in the increasingly rhetorical culture wars, classic writers like
fellow-Chicagoan Mike Royko were becoming increasingly rare (I submit the
London Guardian as evidence). I always
felt Varnell reminded me of Royko in his wit, depth of perception, love of the
community and sheer skill and joy in writing.
This was confirmed to me later when Varnell's column appeared in a
publication under my editorship. Though
I often disagreed with Varnell, I always enjoyed reading his column and always
found him to be a pleasure with which to work.
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| Paul Varnell, (c) Rex Wockner, courtesy of Windy City Media |
I couple these two together because they
embody the spirit that I love about Chicago.
Chicago is about blue-collar intellectualism -- it is not a city of
ivory towers but one of rough hands and steel girders, and the minds that make
sense of this city that defined the 20th Century like none other (I will gladly
tit-for-tat with New York on this one, but not here).
Neil Steinberg of the Sun-Times – another
favorite of mine, quotes Varnell, "I've been mugged and I've been arrested. And I'd rather be mugged." What many readers miss is that Varnall was
not being rhetorical, trying to turn a clever phrase, rather Varnell was
speaking from the truth of his real-life Chicago experience as a former street
hustler who had had run-ins with the cops.
Varnell was not admired because he was clever. He was read because he had something real to
say and illustrations that came from the gritty experience of a life lived in
reality, not in front of a computer screen.
Thankfully God had given him the gift to organize this experience and
pass it onto to Chicago and the greater Midwest through his writing.
Importantly, when many intellectuals have
retreated to grassy faux-Oxbridge-style suburban campuses or barricaded
themselves behind ever-increasingly egoistic levels of urban security,
departing farther and farther from the society they theoretically serve, it is
in places such as Chicago's tabloid or community press that the true heirs of
John Adams, James Madison, LeFevre, Maupassant, Hugo, Woodward, Royko and
others have found voice and continued a tradition – publications too small to
attract the attentions of the Rupert Murdochs or Lord Conrad Blacks, but rather
rather by people more preoccupied with living and with writing than with their
2.5 kids, 2.5 baths and postage stamp ville-dortoir
garage and lawn combos.
I will step out and say that the common
elements between Damski and Varnell are not that they both happened to be
gay. Both men will be read in the future
for their perspectives on Chicago and early Postmodernity, not their
sexuality. In this Steinberg has a sharp
eye. What unites the men is their love
for books, their frequenting of local libraries, their integration into the
local city and regional colleges, their self-directedness, a common engagement
in political activism (walking the talk) and their truly intellectual passion
for life. They had a beat within the
community, drew their inspiration from the community and talked back to the
community. These were men you could run
into at the library, on the street or at the coffee shop -- not an obscure
intelligentsia, but that guy over there drinking at the bar.
As part of a too-long and ever increasing
list, the contributions of Damski and Varnell to the city of Chicago and to
community-level journalism will be missed.
Yet these men continue to serve as realistic, viable examples for new
generations to take up the pen -- and yes, I'll plug it -- as spokespersons for
an effective library system and integrated city and regional colleges. Forget run-ins with police or struggles with
dyslexia -- it is about the community, self-confidence and the pen. Take it up.
(words: 861)
