Dear Marion,

This morning I'm distracted. My friend Helmut Frielinghaus
has sent e-mails telling me that he is very sick in Hamburg
and asks medical advice from Klemens and myself in Belmont.
Later today I'll scour the Internet for the latest scientific/
technical information about his illness. The other, incomparably
less important source of distraction is the telephone call from
Mr. Pucci informing me (or misleading me) about the presentation
about the plumbing inspection which he may or may not make at
the hearing now scheduled for April 28.

Much of yesterday I spent reflecting on the topics which we were
discussing: a) the meaning of (non-violent) civil disobedience, and
b) the validity of the literary tradition. About a) I conclude that
the "facts" of history are so diverse and variegated, the civil
disobedience actors' discourse only in approximations, so that
generalizations and definitions are unhelpful. One must scrutinize
the historical particulars of the specific situation which one would
understand and interpret. As for b) the validity of the literary tradition,
I make the observations that i) objectively it is fiction, but
ii) subjectively it is faith and can best be understood as a species
of religious experience. My notes are accessible to you at
http://home.earthlink.net/~ej1meyer/2011/d110420.02
http://home.earthlink.net/~ej1meyer/2011/d110420.03
http://home.earthlink.net/~ej1meyer/2011/d110421.00

I hope you are continuing to improve. Please keep me informed about
the clinical details of your pneumonia.
Jochen