Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Lewis Lapham apologizes for <a
href="http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_21.shtml#1093366996";>time travel</a>:
The [1]Harper's Magazine site contains the following (thanks to
Christopher Rohrbacher):
[Letter to the Editor:] I was most impressed to read of Lewis
Lapham's ability to travel in time in "Tentacles of Rage" [Essay,
September]. As far as I can tell, on the day I received my copy of
Harper's Magazine, the Republican convention had yet to take place,
and living in New York, I think I would have noticed. Admittedly,
the pablum will be predictable (barring some unforeseen event), but
it seems awfully sloppy of Lapham to discuss feelings he had while
watching something he has yet to watch, simply in order to put some
additional feathers on one of his rhetorical barbs. What is most
appalling is that he chose an actual piece of journalism, rather
than his accustomed punditry, for this rather silly fillip. This
doesn't exactly give me faith in his understanding of what it is
reporters actually do.
On the other hand, if he has in fact traveled in time, I would
appreciate it if he could let all of us subscribers know the
outcome of the forthcoming election.
Matthew Ostrowski Brooklyn
Lewis Lapham responds:
As Mr. Ostrowski properly notes, the rhetorical invention was
silly. The mistake, however, is a serious one, and if I'd had my
wits about me as an editor, I wouldn't have let the author mix up
his tenses in manuscript or allowed him in page proof to lapse into
poetic license. Both of us regret the injury done to the magazine
and apologize, wholeheartedly, to its readers.
It's to Lapham's and Harper's credit that Lapham apologized, and
[2]did so promptly, via the Web. I'd like to know a bit more about
[3]how this error came about -- but in any event, I'm glad that it was
promptly acknowledged.
References
1. http://www.harpers.org/
2. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_21.shtml#1093389248
3. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_21.shtml#1093373108
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