Q and A: Nat Hentoff

Nat Hentoff, prolific author on jazz and the First Amendment (39 published books) and Village Voice syndicated columnist is working on millions of things, like always. None of his current work is about Boston, but one of his favorite books, a memoir called Boston Boy about growing up in Roxbury, was recently re-released. Hentoff agreed to a gambol down faded 60-year-old Memory Lane to talk about his book and his Boston upbringing, though that’s not really what he ended up talking about.

FM: Hello.

Nat Hentoff: I just really don’t see why Harvard’s interested in this story. Now, maybe you can tell me, what are people doing around there about what John Ashcroft and George Bush are doing to the Constitution.

FM: What are they doing to the Constitution? What should people be paying attention to?

Hentoff: The USA Patriot Act has a very chilling effect on freedom of speech. The FBI can come to a bookstore or library and find out what people who are labeled ‘suspicious’ are reading and buying. And there’s a gag order so the librarians and booksellers can’t say that they’ve provided this information. The press has really been asleep on that.

FM: The Boston Globe brought you back to your old haunts for a story in December. What was it like being back?

Hentoff: Well, I was only there for a couple of hours really. The biggest changes I could see were at the Boston Latin School. It was wonderful to see musicians really doing some good work.

FM: How do you feel about Boston Boy being re-released?

Hentoff: It’s a memoir and one always likes to have one’s memoirs around. It’s also one of the two—well, two or three best books I’ve written.

FM: I’m not sure how much you’ve been following it, but what are your thoughts on Larry Summers’ criticism—

Hentoff: Oh, who hasn’t been following that?

FM: No, I meant—

Hentoff: The problem is if you insist on talking about the situation in the context of affirmative action. My view on this is the same as William O. Douglas’. You can’t do it by racial preference, you must take into account one person at a time—that’s true equal protection under the law. When you do it collectively it’s not equal protection.

FM: I was actually wondering what you thought about Summers’ criticism of Cornel West’s rap album and his less-than-academic pursuits.

Hentoff: Oh. I wasn’t interested in that. You either have equal protection of speech on college campuses or it’s hampered by stupid speech codes. Once I was interviewing Justice Brennan and I asked him one of those stupid questions, you know: “What is your favorite part of the Bill of Rights?” And he said, “All of it.”

FM: You were in the American studies doctoral program here at one point for at least a semester. Why did you decide to leave?

Hentoff: I was in Widener library one Sunday afternoon doing research and I heard Sidney Bechet was playing downtown, so I left. And I realized that was where I wanted to be. This is all in the book, by the way.

FM: You write about First Amendment freedoms and are also pro-life. Why do you and John Ashcroft have something in common?

Hentoff: I’m an atheist and I’m pro-life because I can read biology. It’s all a matter of evolution. From the moment of conception, as long as you don’t kill it, it’s a real human being.

FM: How did you get to a point where you can pretty much write about whatever you want in many, many national publications?

Hentoff: Whatever you start writing about, do it well, so what you’re saying is of use to people and then you will get credibility. It’s really like being a good plumber—if you do the job well people will recommend you.

FM: Are you a musician yourself?

Hentoff: I used to play the clarinet but I stopped long ago. I couldn’t have made it as a jazz musician, I could have made it as a classical musician, but not with jazz. And as Charles Mingus used to say, I wasn’t interested in spending my life playing other people’s music.

FM: Are you working on any longer projects right now?

Hentoff: Well, I always have more to write about than I have space. I have two books underway. One is on the First Amendment, where it’s been, where it’s going.

FM: And have you ever studied First Amendment issues in an academic setting?

Hentoff: Everything I do I consider an academic setting, I don’t see these barriers. My books are well researched. It’s no different than doing something in a Ph.D. program.

FM: The second book?

Hentoff: The other book is a novel for young readers about self-segregation. Everybody talks a good game about how we should get along, then they segregate themselves. It’s balkanizing and it makes no sense.

FM: What are you listening to when you’re writing these days?

Hentoff: When I’m writing? Nothing.

FM: What are you listening to when you would listen to music?

Hentoff: Right now I’m writing about and listening to all the recordings of Dave McKenna, the most exciting two-handed piano player in the world.

FM: Two-handed?

Hentoff: He covers the whole range of the piano. He never stops swinging.

FM: You say no one is paying enough attention to the post-September 11 civil liberty infractions. What should students be paying attention to and what should they be doing?

Hentoff: Join the American Civil Liberties Union.

FM: Are you—

Hentoff: Could you let me finish? Everyone in their own place can work for civil liberties. Students can protest and abolish speech codes. There’s so much anybody can do in the workplace. Let me end with a story. I was at this book fair one time and I was asked to give a talk to a large group of black and Latino students. And before the talk one of the teachers told me not to be alarmed if no one paid attention because they were only interested in clothes and music. Well, for an hour I told them the story of the First Amendment, how we came to have freedom of speech. And at the end of the hour I stopped speaking and they all gave me a standing ovation. I had told them the story of America and it was exciting.

FM: I was actually wondering if you are a member of the ACLU yourself.

Hentoff: