Comment by rahimnathwani

14 hours ago

I learned about Searle's death a few weeks ago, from this article: https://www.colinmcginn.net/john-searle/

It includes a letter that starts:

  I am Jennifer Hudin, John Searle’s secretary of 40 years.  I am writing to tell you that John died last week on the 17th of September.  The last two years of his life were hellish. HIs daughter–in-law, Andrea (Tom’s wife) took him to Tampa in 2024 and put him in a nursing home from which he never returned.  She emptied his house in Berkeley and put it on the rental market.  And no one was allowed to contact John, even to send him a birthday card on his birthday.
  
  It is for us, those who cared about John, deeply sad.

I'm surprised to see the NYT obituary published nearly a month after his death. I would have thought he'd be included in their stack of pre-written obituaries, meaning it could be updated and published within a day or two.

6 comments

rahimnathwani

Reply
Zarathruster  1 hour ago

Well, that was incredibly depressing. Maybe I can lighten things with a funny (to me) anecdote.

There are many people who know a lot about a little. There are also those who know a little about a lot. Searle was one of those rare people who knew a lot about a lot. Many a cocky undergraduate sauntered into his classroom thinking they'd come prepared with some new fact that he hadn't yet heard, some new line of attack he hadn't prepared for. Nearly always, they were disappointed.

But you know what he knew absolutely nothing about? Chinese. When it came time to deliver his lecture on the Chinese Room, he'd reach up and draw some incomprehensible mess of squigglies and say "suppose this is an actual Chinese character." Seriously. After decades of teaching about this thought experiment, for which he'd become famous (infamous?), he hadn't bothered to teach himself even a single character to use for illustration purposes.

Anyway, I thought it was funny. My heart goes out to Jennifer Hudin, who was indispensable, and all who were close to him.

blast  14 hours ago

I found the delay puzzling too. But the NYT obit does link to https://www.colinmcginn.net/john-searle/ near the end.

  • masfuerte  7 hours ago

    The Times in the UK publishes obituaries of very well-known public figures within a day or two. Notable but lesser known people (such as Searle) await a quiet day and it can take as long as six months. Space is the constraint, not the availability of the obituary. I guess the NYT is the same.