(no subject)

[phamos]

This article on family leave from the New York Times Magazine was written by Eyal Press, who went to my high school and graduated with my sister. Eyal wrote a book a couple of years ago about his father, who was the only abortion provider left in Buffalo after Barnett Slepian was shot and killed. I think he's a very good writer, which pains me to say because he credits Dick Stratton in his book. (*gag*) He's also got a more distinguished record at the Times now than his classmate Dave Kirkpatrick, who's best known for getting in a ridiculous feud with Dave Eggers that conveniently disappeared from the McSweeney's website at some point in the last year. OK, that's not being fair to Dave Kirkpatrick, who's been doing solid work for the Times for ages now, but the Eggers thing really did taint his reputation. For the record, Dave Kirkpatrick is a good writer, and his sister was an awesome babysitter.

Comments

[notcotuit.livejournal.com]

Dave wrote an article about his summer in Spain in which he said his Spanish father "was so right-wing he flapped in circles!" Endeared him forever. And Laura was indeed a swell babysitter and a really interesting young woman. Glad you remember.

[this-monograph.livejournal.com]

okay, this is a totally off-topic question, but how do you pronounce eyal? i had a professor spring quarter with that as his last name (first name: yonatan) and i never addressed him by name because it scared me.

[phamos818.livejournal.com]

The Hebrew pronunciation, I believe, is "Ay-YAHL." Like, Fonzie saying "ayyyy" and Britney saying "Hi, y'all!" I can say it, but I'm having trouble transcribing it correctly. Of course, according to Mimi, this particular Eyal pronounced it "EE-yuhl" when they went to school together, but I'm guessing that was sorta him giving into the way people had mispronounced his name for years. Mimi was kinda pissed when I said this to her, but I think she misunderstood. I'm sure Eyal introduced himself to people at that time in his life as "EE-yuhl"; I wasn't saying SHE was purposely mispronouncing it. It's just, when you have a difficult-to-pronounce name, I think you eventually give up trying to get people to say it right. There were a lot of Indian kids at my school who tried and failed to get the other kids (and the teachers!) to say their names right when they started in middle school, but just gave up. Now that they're adults, they insist on the correct pronunciation. I've seen it with Segev, too -- his name has been mispronounced all his life, so he just doesn't argue. The woman who performed our wedding ceremony pronounced his name wrong the whole time, but he pretty much just let it go. He said he didn't even really notice. In the last year, I've started responding to any random slur of consonants with a B or a Z or a V in it, because NO ONE gets the last name right. In fact, I've noticed that both Segev and his sister go back and forth between pronouncing it the precise Hebrew way (with the emphasis on the last syllable) and the way that seems to sound better to the American ear (emphasis on the first).

So, yeah. ay-YAHL. And SEG-ev. And CARE-enn. :)

Coincedentally, I also had a professor named Eyal, but it was his first name. He had a very strong accent, and at the break during the first class, the guy next to me turned to me and said "I can't understand a word he's saying -- where is he from??" And I was like, "He's Israeli, and I can understand him perfectly. He sounds just like my father-in-law."

[this-monograph.livejournal.com]

yeah, i would think that it would become really annoying to correct people all the time. i mean, my last name gives people fits sometimes. whenever i spell it, i have to put an emphasis on the y, because otherwise people just write down "white." additionally, i've had some professors (and teachers when i was younger) try to pronounce "whyte" as "why-tee," which is just sort of humiliating. i always dread the first day of classes when they go down the roster and get to me and stumble. blah. it's not that difficult!

i had never encountered the name eyal before i had this particular professor. but wow, you know of quite a few!

i think it's just a good idea to get a lesson from someone when you meet them if you can't pronounce their name. you might not be able to do it very easily in the future either way, but i know that i feel a bit reassured when someone asks me about my last name and makes an effort to spell/say it correctly.