Braverman

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I write in response to the article concerning the death of David S. Braverman '82. I do not question the propriety of your running such an article; to all of the many people who knew David, his death was indeed news--of the most tragic and inexplicable kind. What troubles me is the shape of the article--the great deal of time in pursuit of the details of his death. There seemed to have been a lack of appreciation of David himself. One can, I think, wonder whether events of last Saturday would ever help clarify the wonder of his life or the fact of its end.

Perhaps I am after the impossible--a thing of words which would, to any satisfactory degree, capture David and the effect--the transforming effect--which he had on those who knew him. One can only, I suppose, recite facts--as the article necessarily did: prizes won, honors attained, public accomplishments, grade-point averages. What gets lost in all of that is David's astonishing completeness, the way scientist and friend and musician and neighbor all fit together; and the unending concern he had for others. We had become used to the fact that he had left this community, to go on, we all knew, to more accomplishments. We cannot comprehend the fact that he is now irrevocably gone.

What I would hope can be made of record is how deeply we miss him and how warmly we will remember him; and neither of those things have any relation to coroner's findings and police reports. I was sorry to see that that the Crimson article missed that point. John Hildebidle   Senior Tutor   Adams House