letter to zarefsky

Music: J. Geils Band: Love Stinks (1980)

Background: Last summer I gifted David Zarefsky, a widely respected rhetorical scholar known for a seminar he taught for decades on Lincoln, this t-shirt. He loved it. Since then I've been stockpiling strange Lincoln memorabilia . . . .

Dear Dr. Zarefsky,

I regret I could not afford to attend the public address conference this year, especially because you were the honoree. I remain a fan of your leadership and scholarship, and wished I could have been there to applaud you and share in the "love bubble" that is the banquet at that conference.

I'm hopeful, however, my tradition of sending you unsual gifts might make up for my absence last month.

I spied Lincoln in Austin.

He was in the H.E.B. H.E.B. stands for "Harry E. Butts," the original owner of a chain of grocery stores in Aus-Vegas (you may recall upon your recent trip to the LBJ library buying something in one close to campus). Of course, savvy promotional peeps at the company have resignified the chain to "Here Everything's Better," as if the original pun can be eradicated.

I spied Lincoln not on someone's backside, however, but on the side-side. An arm, to be more precise.

I approached this young man in the H.E.B. and said, 'Excuse me. That is a rad tattoo. Would you mind if I took a photograph? I have a colleague who studies Lincoln who might appreciate seeing this."

"Yeah, go ahead."

As I readied the shot I asked, "Why Lincoln? Are you a fan?"

He replied, "yeah," but was quickly interrupted by his girlfriend, who was bagging their groceries. "Oh, don't get him started on Lincoln---/please/!"

And so, attached, a little tattoo that made me think of you.

With affection,

Josh

Dear Josh,

Thank you very much for this latest memento, although I am not quite sure just what to do with it. I am not sure that the wearer of this tattoo would be safe with it in some parts of Texas, but I will take what I can get.

I remember H.E.B. from visits to Austin while I was growing up in Houston, but I had always thought that the last name was singular.

[snip personal details]

Best regards,

David