My "date" with Max Allen

I am just arriving home from an impromptu interview between my colleague Allison Larsh, myself and Max Allen. What an overwhelming experience. The man can speak about art history, censorship, popular culture, pornography, librarians… you name it. I felt like I didn’t want to leave in case he said something else that no one else has ever written.

One gets the feeling that Allen has written a large volume of material, and equally that no one else has written a large volume of material about Allen himself. Someday he will be viewed as a pioneer in the evolution of censorship in academic environments. Today, he was a gracious host, a charming personality, a truly unique character and likely one of the most straight-shooting people I’ve ever met.

I found it to be particularly inspiring learning that Allen was born an American. Perhaps someday, I could possess the worldly class and genuine charisma of the man I met today. I still can’t believe I’m one of the lucky two people in the world who has seen his archival collection and his personal collection.

Above all, I have renewed faith in the concept of a ‘donor.’ Never again will I be so formal in my approach. Max told me that isn’t the way to get it done. And I believe him.