Calling James Thurber

All roads lead to James Thurber. Though this satirist, writer, humorist, poet, story teller and illustrator has been gone for almost fifty years now, his off-kilter take on mankind and life rings as true today as it did throughout a good portion of the twentieth century. Thurber possessed an admirable ability to view the silliness and arrogance of mankind and then encapsulate it into clever poems, cartoons and fables that gave audiences both a chuckle and uncompromising insight into our imperfections and propensity to take ourselves far too seriously. Thurber had an unmatchable knack for reminding mankind in clever fashion that it was getting far too big for its britches. It is too bad he is not around today to keep doing it.

One of the very best tributes any communicator can receive is when his or her work stands the test of time. This is certainly as true of Thurber as it is of most anyone who made their mark over the past century. One of my favorite quotes from this native of Columbus, Ohio, illustrates this truism nicely: "All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from and to and why." One only has to take a hard look at the various political and social factions in our country today - and this includes far too many segments of the media - to see the applicability of this observation. What is it "we the people" want these days? Freedom? Control over the lives of others? Less government? More government? Lock-step loyalty? Tolerance? Competence? Fluff? I, for one, am not totally sure any longer. As Thurber observed, there are far too many loud voices that seem much more interested in being heard than hearing.

Here is another favorite Thurber quote of mine that seems equally appropriate to the times in which we live: "Man has gone long enough, or even too long, without being man enough to face the simple truth that the trouble with man is man." Bullseye. I will be the first to admit it is not always easy to take a hard look at ourselves in the mirror. We see imperfections, weaknesses, warts and limitations. Who wants to see that especially when they belong to us? At the same, if we really do want to better our individual lives as well as society, then that hard look is an essential first step. Many of the problems we face today are not just the fault of "the other guy." Our finger prints are there, too. Perhaps Thurber's greatest gift to us, then, was his ability to recognize that and then communicate it with uncompromising humor.