9/30/2005

Horace Porter

"Be moderate in everything, including moderation," Horace Porter once wrote.

Recently his fellow New Yorkers commissioned a mere footstone for his gravesite, then turned out a paltry 30 strong for the commemoration ceremony.

That is wildly excessive moderation considering the number of people who likely attended various nearby Manhattan book parties for the many Grant tomes released in the last 18 months. Porter himself organized the creation of tombs for his old boss Grant and for John Paul Jones.

Hats off to the locals for conceiving and organizing this. It's a an example and a start that needs to scale upwards, at least moderately.