《纽约时报》为 1000 名新冠逝者登了“迷你悼文”
5 月 24 日《纽约时报》刊登了一则头版头条，标题是 U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss，为 1,000 名新冠疫情逝者整理了“迷你悼文”。
开头一段意味深长：
They were not simply names on a list. They were us. Numbers alone cannot possibly measure the impact of the coronavirus on America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short. As the country nears a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths attributed to the virus, The New York Times scoured obituaries and death notices of the victims. The 1,000 people here reflect just 1 percent of the toll. None were mere numbers.
然后是每个逝者的姓名、年龄、所在地和生命中的亮点。我从中摘了 10 则，代表了不同的年龄、性别、种族、州、职业和爱好，和大家分享：
•Jermaine Ferro, 77, Lee County, Fla., wife with little time to enjoy a new marriage
• Lorreta Mendoza Dionisio, 68, Los Angeles, cancer survivor born in the Philippines
• Romi Cohen, 91, New York City, saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo
• Kenneth R. Going, 87, Grafton, Wis., Green Bay Packers season holder for 50 years
• Susan Rokus, 73, Virginia, reading tutor focused on student success
• Freddy Rodriguez Sr., 89, Denver, played the saxophone at Denver's oldest jazz club for 40 years
• Sandy Pratt, 92, Bellevue, Wash., engineer forever chasing the wind
• Michael Sorkin, 71, New York City, champion of social justice through architecture
• Bassey Offiong, Michigan, saw friends in their worst but brought out their best
• Elmer J. David, 90, Fairbault, Minn., had respect for every living creature.
There were from every nook and cranny of the US. They lived exciting and fulfilling lives. They could be our friends and neighbors. They were not simply names on a list. They were us.
Pages and pages of obits.
上一次被这样震撼到还是在 2013 年春天。当时我在马里兰读书，一个周末去华盛顿的 Hirshhorn Museum 看了一位中国艺术家的展览。那个展的主题是 According to what? 从一楼上二楼，我听到了熟悉的普通话广播，童声非常响亮，不间断地念着一串人物的姓名、性别和年龄。
一上二楼，就被眼前的那堵墙给惊呆了。上面密密麻麻地列着 5,000 多名学生的姓名、性别、年龄、学校、年级和住址。墙上都是中文，绝大部分访客都是美国人，但记录本身就足够有意义了。就像 5 月 24 日《纽约时报》的头版头条一样，最原始、最朴素、最简单的文字记录中蕴藏着巨大无比的力量。
不需要绚丽的排版，不需要催人泪下的音乐，不需要精心设计，白纸黑字就好。人们看到了就懂。他们不是一串数字，他们不只是名字，他们是我们。我们也可能是他们。
an exhibition at Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
1994 年《经济学人》圣诞特别双周刊中有一篇 The art of the obituary，其中结尾部分是这样写的：
很多时候，我们需要提醒自己，不要低估那些普普通通的生命，不要忘记发生了什么，更不要忘记为什么会发生。
孟庆伟 Justin
个人微信 ID：justinqmeng
现象级英语联合创始人
《经济学人》11 年研究者
雅思写作 8 分，口语 8 分
题图：The New York Times
图片: Ida Bae Wells; Hirshhorn Museum
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