DEATH | Ved Mehta, January 9, 2021

January 19, 2021—In the Sunday New York Times appeared the obituary of Ved Mehta, who died a week earlier.

I have posted it at left. Born in Lahore in the Punjab, he studied in the United States.

The New Yorker death notice of January 10 reports that he  asked David Astor, editor of the Observer, about writing for them a very long series of articles about traveling in India. He suggested the only likely place to publish something that long ("and boring") was the New Yorker magazine.

Mehta became a contributing writer for the New Yorker and made New York his home.

He wrote about his early days in India as a boy made blind by meningitis, about learning Braille, riding a bike and a horse, and his experiences as a student.

He wrote a three-volume life of Mahatma Gandhi and profiles of Oxford dons, a book about William Shawn of The New Yorker and political rivalries in India, among many topics.

I got know him and his wife Linn Cary Mehta through their loyal participation in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race Dinner in New York City over many years.

The Times obituary is followed by an appreciation by his friends Dan and Joanna Rose, who have also been regular participants in the New York City Boat Race Dinner.

When Ved Mehta spoke about his residence at Oxford, Balliol College, he expressed his respect and affection. He was not so keen on Trinity College, on the other side of the wall, but he didn't seem to hold it against me. His presence at future Oxford events will be missed.

  

Early Reads on the British Election

	David Cameron Carries On by Anthony Lane Cameron claimed that austerity policies were driven by necessity, whereas Ed Miliband argued that it was ideological. Economists will continue to thrash out the issue; meanwhile, the public has chosen whom to believe.
	What’s Next for the United Kingdom? by John Cassidy For a democratic union of two countries to survive, it needs majority support in both. This condition is still being met by Scotland and England, but only just.

Who would be a good speaker on this for Oxford Alums? Recommendations so far include Piers Morgan (did not attend Oxford) - Stephen Fisher (Fellow, Politics Tutor at Trinity College Oxford, has been in BBC TV on the elections) - Ian Williams, journalist at the U.N.

BILL BRADLEY: 50 Years Since "Where U R"

The Number Has Been Retired.

Some people stand out in their Freshman year. Bill Bradley did that.

He attracted the attention of John McPhee, a writer for The New Yorker. It's now 50 years since McPhee's article for The New Yorker about Bradley in the January 1965 issue. It was published before Bradley led Princeton to the NCAA Final Four.

Princeton was the first Ivy League basketball team to get that far. The New York Times today paid homage to the man and McPhee's story on the fifth page of the Sports Section (under "Road to Indianapolis" where the NCAA Final Four is being played) and this story is already before 10 am on Sunday the newspaper's most-emailed story.

The title of the article and a subsequent book, "A Sense of Where You Are" came from Bradley after he sent a ball through the hoop while keeping his eyes on McPhee. 

He said: 

When you have played basketball for a while, you don't need to look at the basket when you are in close like this. You develop a sense of where you are.