In his email message, Artin explained why his voice has been silent here
for some time now. He was involved in a very serious automobile accident,
the victim of drunk driving by the driver of the other car, and has spent a
long while now partially incapacitated as he recovers (so far it seems with
good prospects) from serious injuries. Fortunately his life-partner, in the
car with him, was not seriously hurt, and he and his family, as well as
members of Artin's family who came from Turkey to be with him, have helped
greatly in his continuing recovery.
For me, xmca is a true community, and I consider so many of you to be
friends, and even more than just friends, some whom I have met face-to-face
(perhaps only recently) and some whom I have not. I was moved and impressed
with Artin's contributions here, especially the autobiographical side of
them, and have thought of him very much as part of my xmca "family". He was
not sure whether it might seem too "self-indulgent" for him to let us all
know about his accident and the profound change in his life that it has
occasioned. I asked him to let me share this with you all, and after some
reflection, he agreed and hoped that I could do it more easily than he
could himself.
It is good to know you are loved, and to hear from your friends ... even
those you may not have known you had ... in the rough times of our lives. I
have already sent Artin my love and prayers for his soonest and fullest
recovery. I hope he will find that he already has many other friends here
in xmca. I believe we are a true community because we not only find each
other intelletually interesting, but because over time we have come to care
for one another as people. This, more than anything, makes me proud of
xmca, and grateful to Mike and all the others who have helped to build and
nurture the possibility of community among us.
So now Artin's period of difficulties are part not just of his
autobiography, but of mine, and to some degree that each of you will
determine, of yours. For now, not "data" but life itself, the ground of all
our work, and what alone can endow it with value.
JAY.
Artin Goncu: U25510 who-is-at UICVM.UIC.EDU
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JAY L. LEMKE
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
<http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/education/jlemke/index.htm>
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