A NY Times writer had a baby that Maya Angelou had been using Dr. In her name despite that prefix being merely an honorary one. I wrote this open letter to him thru the paper and was given a response thar itvends forwarded to Op/Ed. It wont get published probably but Ill share it here: FW: Dr. Maya Angelou From Jim To opinion@nytimes Sun, Jan 4, 2015 Dear Sir; I read with great interest your article regarding your apparent loss of sleep and appetite as a result of Maya Angelou being called, or calling herself as the case may be, Doctor despite that title having been given as an honor as opposed to her not having earned that degree academically. Admittedly I just stumbled upon your Angelou column today, but Im assuming it was a slow week in terms of news the week Dr. Angelou passed? Perhaps you were short on your quota? Maybe you had to buy insurance that day or played hooky and phoned that one in? What I lose appetite and sleep over is the fact that everything in this world has to be fair and even for everyone. And this coming paradoxically from a politcal liberal. Where am I going with this? Allow me some breadth here. You mentioned in your article several people who also have been bestowed honorary doctorates, such as Paul Simon, Sir Paul McCartney (have you any problem with me calling him Sir? More on that later...), and Willard Scott, whom Ill pick on in this letter for comparison sake. Come now Mr. Oppenheimer, you can hardly compare Willard Scott to Maya Angelou. Think of Lloyd Bentsons comment to Dan Quayle: Senator, youre no Jack Kennedy. When you consider the width and breadth of Angelous career, her body of published works, the number of presidents (foreign as well as US presidents) dignitaries, thousands of noted Americans and tens of millions of anonymous ones whose lives she not only touched but directly INFLUENCED, can you not perhaps take an Ambien and pick up a salad fork and overlook this prefix? I mean pish posh sir, or rather Mr., its not as if Willard Scott was anywhere nearly as influential a human being as Angelou, despite your no doubt hurried Google search of Scotts career for the purpose of gathering ancillary information to prove me wrong. Ill add here, parenthetically, that I have nothing against Scott. If youre out there Willard, Happy Birthday, whenever that is - somehow I feel I owe you that. A Poet, civil rights activist, dancer, film producer, television producer, playwright, film director, author, actress, professor (honorary or otherwise), this woman had an incredible body of work on stage, screen and paper. Has Willard Scott written seven autobiographies? I checked and lost count at one. Of course in the spirit of fairness Maya Angelou would have paled in comparison to Willard Scott in Scotts character Ronald McDonald whom he claims he created. Im not sure about Dr. Willard Scott, but it seems this Angelou gal was somewhat accomplished, if not prolific. But Perhaps youd still argue her accomplishments dont justify her using her honorary title. Fine. Lets examine that. Her resume of honors includes but is not limited to: being honored by dozens of universities, literary organizations, government agencies, and special interest groups, a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water fore I Diiie, a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play Look Away, and three Grammys for her spoken word albums. She served on two presidential committees in addition to being visited by or visiting dozens of presidents and politicians, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Perhaps Dr. Angelou felt she deserved the prefix Dr because unlike Willard Scotts sole honorary doctorate from the oft lauded and prestigious, uh...., oh yeah Johnson and Wales University, Ms. Angelou was awarded over FIFTY honorary degrees.[1] To my point of being fair and even. When I was a kid of age 5 or 6, a little league game was still allowed to have a winner and loser without some parent filing (and no doubt winning) a legal battle claiming little Bobby now had PTSD because of the 1 in his teams 15-1 record. (No doubt thered be no lawsuit had they gone 16-0, of course they dont even count runs now so THAT supposition is predicated upon little Bobbys team also pitching no-hitters in all 16 wins). Well its a long way to make a point to be sure, but when we get there finally, the point is this: its fair for Angelou to use a Dr prefix and not the weatherman, regardless of how many centenarians he recognizes. Not everything has to be black and white. There can be some gray. In this case the gray being the disparity of one individual having a body of work worthy of USING an honorary title and one who, upon self inspection and inventory, deciding they dont fit in the same honorary bestowment category (coining a word and phrase if it doesnt offend you) as a Maya Angelou. Having said that, I could care LESS if Scott or McCartney or Paul Simon or anyone else who has received an honorary doctorate uses the prefix. And if I were a writer for some big newspaper like you I SURE would find more important news items to write; less noted Americans to pick on....perhaps some who millions dont idolize, for example? Incidentally, in he United Kingdom they honor their distinguished citizens with an honorary knighthood. Tell Anthony Hopkins or Daniel Day-Lewis they dont deserve the prefix Sir because theyre not a true Knight. Mark, you had a bad day. Needed a vacation, your significant other burned your toast that morning, whatever, but you blew it. There are some great Americans who transcend others and deserve to partake in using that title with which theyve been honored before their name. Maybe if and when YOU get an honorary doctorate your tune will change. Or itll be a busier news week. [1] Stanley, Alessandra (17 May 1992). Whose Honor Is It, Anyway. The New York Times. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 01:01:34 +0000
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