Charlie Fineman is a Fine Man
On his retirement from Harvard in 2008
Did you knów that the hist’ry of WESS is wrapped up
In the lives of those people who aptly conduct
The actívities ánd the bureaucracy too
That have máde WESS so groovy for me and for you?
Well, todáy let me júst introduce some years later,
Someone whó lifted WÉSS and who máde it the greater:
Charlie Fineman’s his name; he’s a free-lance translator,
But three décades ago he was one WESS creator.
The WESS Néwsletter, like a free flowing Euphrates,
He kept éditing áll through the years of the Eighties,
And it cáme without Internet, e-mail or server.
He used typewriters, postage and long, faithful fervor.
If we tráce back his hístory, ít can turn vague,
But we know he served IFLA and lived in The Hague
Betwixt making a Yale break from downtown New Haven
To Northwéstern as sóme sort of biblio-maven.
On the road again, Charlie decided to choose
The less urban surroundings of Cal – Santa Cruz.
Even there in tall redwoods caressed by the fog,
Charlie’s thoughts kept on turning to Stockholm and Prague.
So this gypsy existence he took on the road
One more time; on to Cambridge he switched his abode.
Scandinavia, Italy, France were his beats,
Adding Widener knowledge for Harvard elites.
Hey, the réason I even bring up all this stuff
Is that Charlie has nów said he’s wórked quite enough.
No commíttees more, nó Finnish Festschrift selecting:
He’s retiring, he’s resting, he’s simply defecting.
- Richard Hacken