09 April 2018

Tom Lehrer or Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Your Choice


O
n this day in history Tom Lehrer was born (1928) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed (1945). Tom Lehrer is still with us; Dietrich Bonhoeffer is not—and even if he hadn’t been executed by Nazi thugs he probably would not still be around; he’d be 112 years old.
Tom Lehrer’s satirical songs were an enthusiasm of my father’s—many times as a kid I heard him play “An Old Irish Folk Song” or “The Hunting Song” for unsuspecting visitors, but I didn’t develop any particular interest in him until I realized that some of my favorite satirical songs on That Was the Week That Was were his—“Who’s Next,” in particular.
Decades ago I read something of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in connection with Adolf von Harnack, but my notes are gone and my memory too faded to resurrect the details.
There’s no real excuse for this entry except that I wanted to preserve links to two quite decent pieces—one on Tom Lehrer at Ill Folks and the other on Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Warren Throckmorton’s blog. Enjoy. Or not. Your choice.
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