Sunday, January 04, 2015

Schuyler County's Wendell Berry

Sam Argetsinger (1952-2014) was the Wendell Berry of Schuyler County in upstate New York. Like Berry, Sam was a philosopher, poet, essayist, farmer,and social activist. I enjoyed co-editing the student newspaper at Watkins Glen, NY with Sam our senior year there, 1969-1970. One of the most impressive things about Sam was his knowledge of a couple of Native American languages.

The following quote by Wendell could have easily been written by Sam. "Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a stronger sense of justice than we do." RIP, Sam!

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