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Remembering Joel more photos of Joel |
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Nicholas Fargnoli |
Joel was
one of the early members of the
Finnegans Wake reading group. He was respectful, never boastful
of his accomplishments, and appreciative of the insights others had
to offer. I am saddened by his death; he will always be remembered.
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David Rose |
I will remember Joel always for his many kindnesses to me. We entered the Wake group together, more or less, and quickly became fastwakefriends. At the Gotham, the seat next to Joel was always the one I liked best. We nudged each other, swapped smartaleck remarks, fooled around, and expostulated on everything and nothing. I felt befriended, truly. We sailed together on a crazy ship and cast our lines out far, fishing for words and reeling them in, casting them back into the waters. I was Mutt to his Jute. Or was it the other way around? Or both? What spirit and mirth we shared! From Symphony Space to the Staten Island ferry, and always finally docking at the Gotham, we declaimed and quibbled and sang and laughed and talked. Rare times, and a very rare spirit. Joel Greenberg, my friend, with the perpetually jolly laughter and head full of Joyce and the OED. The gift of your kindness and friendship will never be forgotten. | |
Stanley Appelbaum |
Joel, we'll miss you man, Knowledge of Irish legends Elucidation of Wagner operas Mastery of OED software Incomparable reading of thunderwords Your lovely happy smiling self. |
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Stephen Grillo |
Oh, what bad news. indeed. Such a loss. Joel was really special. Having Joel leave us so suddenly deepens my unhappiness about not being able to attend meetings this past year. | |
Patricia
Berger |
I don't remember the exact year, but on New Year's Eve I had gone to Paula Cooper's gallery to hear the reading of FW. I noticed a man sitting on the floor laughing and laughing. I went home, but returned in the morning with-as I recall a blue card announcing the next meeting of the FW reading group -- I gave the blue card to the man. He came to the next meeting. Whenever we walked from the Gotham to our destinations --he to the subway -- me to W. 48th St., he always thanked me for telling him about the FW reading group. What words could ever thank him? For the myths, for the opera (especially Wagner), for the explanation of 1132, for the recitations of the thunder words, for the rum cakes, for laughing at jokes- good and bad (there were many of the latter.) And the OED -- never forget the OED -- and never forget Joel. | |
Miriam
Malach |
To Joel, with apologies
to George Chapman (1559?-1634), a quote from his play, Bussy
d'Ambois: Farewell, brave relic of a complete man! Look up and see they spirit made a star. |
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Linda Cohen |
I am still very saddened when I think of Joel. We will all miss his vast knowledge and his wonderful sense of humor. I think of Joel as the keeper, for all of us, of the thunder words. That seems very important to me now. | |
Michael
Graves |
I liked Joel, who attended some of my readings and was talking abour recording some of my work, and I am saddened by his loss. | |
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Charles Caruso |
He was a tower of strength and literacy, we'll all miss his 100-letter words. I wondered why there was an empty seat next to Marghretta. So sorry. |
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Marghretta McBean |
I had just finished the last of the rum cake he had given me. When he didn't show at our meeting, I thought he had an opera to attend. He was one of the kindest persons I have ever met. |
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Lawrence Loeb |
Like the rest, I am shocked and deeply saddened. I missed Joel on Wednesday, will continue to miss him, his wit, in all that means, and his being. And take your laysure like a god on pension PENSIONER OF SORTS |
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Victoria Harding |
Because we were the only Staten Islanders at Wake and other Joyce gatherings, though I only met him in 1999, Joel and I spent a lot of time together, going home. The natural condition of a Staten Islander is to be at the mercy of the ferry schedule, and so we often were hurrying for the boat: if I walked faster than Joel, he would put on a fake style and a silly expression, like Terry Thomas in a walking race, and blast on ahead of me, occasioning many turned heads. We talked on the street, on the train, in the ferry terminal, and on the boat, and in all cases, Joel's booming voice, which rose effortlessly from somewhere deep within and carried great distances, meant his side of the conversation was shared by everyone within a pretty wide range. He liked to joke so much, and his laughter also astonishingly emerged in great waves, at huge volume and with no effort. We talked a lot about opera, which I had started going to in the spring of 2002 but Joel was an old hand at, and his response to almost all he saw and heard was, "Wonderful! Marvelous! a magnificent performance!" which he truly meant. Although we never went on the same nights, we discovered that for a Monday performance of Handel's Rodelinde, we had both been there in the balcony, Joel in his usual front row center seat, I and my daughter around on the left side in cheap last-minute seats: realizing at the intermission that it was Monday, Joel's opera night, I looked for him but didn't spot him. On our trips I also heard about his scientific
work, the diagnosing of disease from the chemical contents of the
breath, along with a lot of the lab politics he went through;
about his trip to Ireland with his nephew, when he at
last saw so many Joyce places dear to him from reading and study.
And his trip to Japan, his time in Chicago, and much more. The trip
home is about an hour if all goes well; when it didn't, and, for
example, we ended up on the wrong train and in Brooklyn, staring
at a sign for Gravesend, it was even longer, and all this time was
filled with the most idle sort of talk and recounting of trivial
things, nothing important, but the ability to talk and hear about
them with another becomes so. |
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Christina Starobin |
Joel was one of three who came along with me to spread the word of Joyce to the natives of NJ. When I taught a course in James Joyce at Ramapoo a choice band accompanied me there (Joel, David & Michael). We explained how we read Joyce, & did a section of the Wake. Months later, the kids remembered not how tough it had been but that adults would do something like this "without pay". I will always recall Joel's dismay at the current computer literacy which he felt helped to pave the way for fascism. He was a good man down to the ground. I'm glad he had a chance to visit us up here. We had hoped he would visit again. In sympathy, Christina |
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Martin Kesselman |
Although I knew Joel mostly
through our meetings and the summer
picnics, I'd like to add two comments which have not been emphasised by
previous posters. The first: Joel's pride in his medical work (at St. Vincent's). Although he spoke only occasionally about it, it was clear that his investment in that work -- in respiratory physiology I think -- was significant and formed a part of his life that would sometimes arise in our FW discussions. It is ironic that, as Murray points out, one of the last times he was mentioned in the group was around our discussion on the atomic weight of oxygen. The other trait was Joel's irreverence, a trait I will sorely miss. In dealing with a work with the range and allusiveness of the Wake, it is too easy to become too bedazzled by one's own interpretive efforts. Joel knew how to puncture those (rare?) moments of portentousness but, because he was Joel, to do so with kindness and humor. He will be missed. |
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Peter Reichenberg |
Everyone
who responded has said it so eloquently I’m not sure what to
say. Joel was a true gentleman and scholar. I will miss him. |
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Kevin
Gilroy |
JUST DEVASTATING! A great, gentle giant of a man. Life seems so unfair. |
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Nikki Joel's colleague at work |
Thank you for the photo
link. It gave
me such happiness to see Joel doing what he loved best, enjoying James
Joyce and his friends that he shared that with. I have seen him wear
those shirts so often. It's a comfort to have these photos. The James Joyce Society was one of Joel's four great loves. He loved opera, the NY Yankees, James Joyce's literature (and any literature referred to in the Joyce's books), and science. He was a man of so many talents, such depth, and the greatest spirit of generosity I will ever have the honor to know. There will never be another Joel Greenberg. Never. We need to remember what he shared and all the wonderful things he taught us. He never expected anything in return. He was "different" as he used to say. "Different" in so many wonderful ways. I know he loved all of his friends at the meetings. He spoke of you all. I've heard names. I've heard about the wonderful sandwiches. I've heard about the life-sized James Joyce (there he was in the photo!) :). Joel was my best friend. I will never really get over this loss, but I know he would want me to be strong and move on in a new, and more positive direction. He is still teaching me about life, even in his absence. He will be greatly missed. Never forgotten. Always loved. If you would like to see the wonderful work he gave his life for, see our work website www.menssanaresearch.com. He was proud of what he did. He wanted to help people avoid suffering and illness. He was brilliant at what he did. He had a mind that will never be equaled. He created so much of what we accomplished. He was the backbone, the driving force, the strength, and the leader among us. I went to him for help all the time. He always had an answer, or if he didn't have it immediately, he knew how to find it. I will be quite lost without him. Our work will be crippled in a way. Without him, it will be very difficult to go on. I will do my best, but it will never compare to what we could accomplish together. We were a very tight knit team, but he was the leader. |
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Messages are welcome: please send tovh@inwriting.org |
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