Zinsser's literary range and magpie intellect prompted reviewers of the day to compare him to an earlier Harvard Medical School author, Oliver Wendell Holmes.
"I think the need to carve out space for herself in a literary family of such ferocious intellect and ambition was critical ― giving an urgency to her endeavors.
CARPENTER--Ruth C. A teacher, mentor, literary scholar and friend of unparalleled intellect and generosity, Ruth Corn Carpenter, of New Milford, Connecticut and New York City, passed away peacefully on the evening of October 23, 2011.
But he also says he's a "primitive," a "Grandma Moses of the intellect," and calls himself a literary nightclub performer: "lower class, intuitive, moody, and anxious to hold the attention of a potentially hostile audience and quick (like a comic or a jazz musician) to change the subject or mood".
His second, "The Children's Hospital," confirms that he is possessed of the imagination, ambition and deep-veined intellect that will allow this evolving literary movement to deliver on its possibilities.
Lacking conscious artistry or literary pretention, his writing is noted for the brilliant intellect it reveals.
My literary heroes are those who engage the emotions as well as the intellect.
Boswell, a laird from Scotland, an advocate with political aspirations, 30 years younger than Johnson, tackled the eminent literary figure of the day, the editor of Shakespeare, compiler of a dictionary, the critic and essayist of magisterial intellect.
"She was a towering intellect who took copious notes about everything, and she kept it all," said Sara S. Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts at the Huntington, in a statement.
Hate reason and intellect.
