Douglas Messerli Remembers David Antin

At Hyperallergic, Douglas Messerli writes about his long-time friend and intellectual compatriot David Antin, whose death in October we noted here. Shortly after Antin's passing, Messerli was tapped by Antin's son Blaise to write an obituary that could be shared widely with news outlets. After writing "objectively" of Antin's life (full obit included), Messerli turns the article to a more personal look into his relationship with Antin and remembers their first encounter:

I really got to know David, however, when, on a visit to California; I took a train down to La Jolla, where I stayed a night in the Antins’ house. David picked me up in Del Mar, and quickly whisked me away to a beach where, instead of observing the stunning Pacific views, we talked endlessly about my PhD dissertation — which I was then writing — on “Non-Modernist Narrative Fiction.” David, who’d evidently read everything I’d already written, gave me brilliant insights and support for several hours as we skirted that beautiful beach’s surf. That day, for the first time, I totally enjoyed the “beach,” not a normal environment for me, and, as I realized, not for David.

After, we returned to the Antin home, in those days a kind a raunchy suburban mountain retreat with a lot of unwashed dishes (today, their home, an architecturally revived building, is a stunningly clean estate in a now very wealthy enclave) where several academic friends soon gathered — even today I wonder if this were a regular occurrence. One by one, he not only introduced me to his friends, but, quite stunningly, reported their various writings and intellectual pursuits. I’ve never before or since, encountered anyone who could so brilliantly explain what was on the minds of one’s friends. He seemed to know their thinking better than even they might have expressed it. By this time, I was quite dizzied by events, and as the sun went down in that Southern California paradise, I was simply exhausted.

As I attempted to fall asleep, I could hear David and Eleanor, late into the night, talking, seemingly endlessly, not only about the day’s events but about ideas and future concepts. I cannot even begin to express the intellectual stimulation my poor graduate school-brain received during that single evening. And I would never forget it. David, Eleanor, Howard, and I became life-long friends, a relationship that lasted some 40 years.

Spend more time thinking about Antin, his life and works, at Hyperallergic.