Re: GG: Foreigners, etc.

["T.R. Thiessen" <punch@sk.sympatico.ca>]

.....And, as a footnote to this whole thing, might I add that if it were't for
Glenn Gould, would any of us recognize the name 'Andrew Kazdin' to begin with....?



John P. Hill wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jul 1998, Bruce Cross wrote:
>
> > Speaking of Kazdin's stupid criticisms of Gould in his vile little stinking
> > book, the business of ordering coffee has to be the stupidest.  Kazdin, a
> > foreigner, has never heard of a double-double (p.25).  Little does he know
> > that
> > any of Gould's countrymen could enter any doughnut shop in the Dominion, and
> > order a double-double and be completely understood.
> >
> > Bruce
> > (donning flame retardant suit)
>
> Bruce:
>
> No need for the flame-retardant clothing, but I would just make two
> points:
>
> 1.  As a Canadian living in the US, I really find the word "foreigner"
> to be distateful.  And I'm not being "PC" either.  That term is loaded
> with some really awful sentiment that is used everyday down here to
> justify things like kicking folks who need it off welfare, attempting to
> "ghettoize" illegal immigrant groups by denying them schooling and
> healthcare, etc. etc. etc.  I find it sad that fellow Canadians
> might adopt this term and all of the thinly-veiled hate sentiment (or at
> the very least, insensitivity) that goes along with it.  Why not choose
> the higher ground?
>
> 2.  I would agree with you that Andy Kazdin's book is quite mean-spirited.
> I met up with him at an AES conference a few years back and it became
> immediately obvious that he had *nothing* good to say about GG.  However,
> his book does offer some pretty unique insights in terms of their
> recording methodology and professional relationship.  I think it goes some
> places that none of the other books do, by virtue of the fact that Kazdin
> was an integral part of a very important body of GG recordings that spans
> about 25 years.  He was in the control room (and the recording space) a
> whole lot more than any of the other GG biographers and that's a
> well-informed perspective to tap into, even if it is colo(u)red by the way
> the relationship ended.
>
> jh