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69 TRANSPORT TO SUMER When฀Carolyn฀was฀a฀grad฀student at฀the฀University฀of฀Chicago she฀overlapped฀with฀Paul฀Wolfowitz, architect฀of฀the฀“pre-emptive฀war”฀policy, who฀was฀studying฀under฀Leo฀Strauss. Carolyn฀was฀a฀nun฀then, in฀a฀medieval฀habit฀that฀brushed฀the฀ground like฀a฀medieval฀angel’s฀wings. She฀was฀called฀“mother” after฀she฀got฀her฀master’s. Lesser฀nuns฀(called฀“sisters”) washed฀her฀habits฀for฀her. It฀was฀the฀late฀’60s, ฀฀฀฀฀and฀I฀was฀a฀toddler,฀out฀West฀in฀Seattle, sleeping฀with฀a฀stuffed฀tiger called฀“Halloweeny.” ฀฀฀฀฀Later—in฀the฀1990s—I฀moved฀to฀Chicago for฀my฀Ph.D.฀I฀thought฀knowledge would฀make฀me฀weighty, like฀a฀“sister,”฀if฀not฀a฀“mother,” but฀I฀stayed฀myself-growing-older, and฀every฀day฀I฀walked฀past฀a฀statue honoring฀Enrico฀Fermi, who฀split฀the฀atoms฀that฀fell on฀Hiroshima฀and฀Nagasaki. ฀฀฀฀฀When฀I฀met฀Carolyn฀at฀an฀alumni reception฀in฀Milwaukee,฀we฀compared฀notes about฀our฀time฀at฀the฀U.฀of฀C., ฀฀฀฀฀and฀I฀wanted฀to฀say฀it฀changed฀me because฀I฀met฀you฀there,฀Chris฀Roth, and฀love฀made฀my฀whole฀body฀smart as฀we฀sat฀on฀a฀fire฀escape listening฀to฀the฀downstairs฀neighbors lecture฀their฀daughter,฀Amber, with฀fall฀sweeping฀Hyde฀Park฀involuntarily setting฀the฀trees฀on฀fire. ฀฀฀฀฀So,฀Chris:฀what’s฀weighty? Once฀we฀visited฀the฀U.฀of฀C.฀museum where฀they฀had฀the฀Gates฀of฀Babylon propped฀against฀one฀wall, and฀clay฀figures฀from฀Sumer with฀stick฀legs฀and฀enormous฀eyes. The฀gates฀were฀weighty.฀The฀Sumerians were฀light.฀Leaves฀are฀light.฀Light is฀light.฀As฀we฀age฀we฀shrink, and฀I฀am฀glad฀to฀hold฀you at฀night฀like฀an฀archaeological฀find: a฀person฀who฀walked฀with฀me฀out฀of฀the฀ruins— so฀long฀Paul฀Wolfowitz, ciao฀to฀the฀splitters฀of฀atoms. 70 ...

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