Ex-Friends

Ex-Friends

I have many ex-friends. Consider the case of Mark Rowlands: this is a person who I’ve known for forty years. I supervised him at Oxford; I asked him to contribute to a series I was editing on ethics; I brought him to Miami; I saw him every day for lunch when I was in the department; my wife was good friends with his wife. I have not set eyes on him in over ten years and I live close to him in Miami. I have tried many times to arrange a meeting with him. After giving me the runaround for years, he finally made it clear that no meeting was going to happen. No explanation was given. Or Otavio Bueno: I was instrumental in bringing him to Miami as a junior member of the department; I befriended him when he arrived; we were on good terms. That friendship is over. No explanation given. Some nasty emails exchanged. Told me I was not welcome on campus. Or Aimee Thomasson: I literally saved her life when she was in danger of drowning; she came to my house and I to hers; we had a good relationship. I reached out to her to discuss things, but got no response. She publicly took against me. I haven’t seen her or heard from her in over ten years. I could mention many others. You might want to ask these people to explain themselves, because I have no explanation from them. Cancellation can get very personal.[1]

[1] I should say that I have many academic friends who have not distanced themselves from me.