The Eric Voegelin Society Annual Meeting

Max Arnott gives a wonderful paper on the metaxy and poetry. Richard Avramenko awaits in what is probably not a state of "Langeweile."

Gilbert Weiss delivers his critique. His Doctor-Father, Reinhold Knoll, a Viennese like Gilbert, is present to enjoy the celebration of Voegelin's 100th Birthday. Ellis Sandoz observes from near the front.

Mark Theodoropoulos listens intently. He has provided the technical skills to coordinate the gathering.

Over the years I may succeed in getting a full portrait of Paul Caringella, but I have had no luck so far!
   The truth is more prosaic.   I came for the program and the photos were an afterthought.

John Von Heyking gives his views on Nicholas of Cusa's approach to religious toleration while Jürgen Gebhardt and Ellis Sandoz listen.

Peter Von Sivers and Tilo Schabert listen to John Von Heyking.

Mathias Riedl is poised to go to the podium to talk about the final realm of Joachim of Fiore. Peter von Sivers and Tilo Schabert wait to give their critiques. I hold up the camera and Peter smiles.

The Joachitic monastic architecture is in the form of a Greek cross. In the final realm the laity occupy the large building at the base of the cross and supply vocations. Mathias Riedl explains the details to us.

Stefan Rossbach listens intently. He is, of course, an expert on gnosticism and its permutations over time.

Peter Von Sivers offers his comments on the papers. He is circumspect in his criticism. Jürgen Gebhardt and Ellis Sandoz listen.

Max Arnott of Montreal relaxes after having given a paper we enjoyed very much. He has found some wonderful new (old) Chesterton. I have promised to read it.

Barret Dolph came the greatest distance for the conference (Taiwan). Fluent in Chinese, Latin, and three kinds of Greek, like Voegelin, his Russian lay idle and he lost it; he is, of all things, an ex Marine! He explained to me how original sin expresses itself in China.

The University of Missouri publishes the collected works of Eric Voegelin. This is overseen by Beverly Jarrett who is both Director of the Press and Editor in Chief. She reported some very nice things to us. One thing that I especially enjoyed hearing is that negotiations are underway to publish the Collected Works in several languages.

By the way, the Collected Works are ALWAYS in print, regardless of what may appear at Amazon.com. And there is a SALE for the CW which continues until October lst.

Stefan Rossbach relaxes with Mark Theodoropoulos and Sandy Tresan at Ken Quandt's wonderful home in the Mission district. Old plank oak floors, stucco and coffered ceilings. Dark and warm and comfortable.

Nancy Theodoropoulos gives me a radiant smile. In additon to everything else, she is a musician and rather well trained! We hummed "Last uns erfruen" together. On Thursday for "show and tell" she handed each of us a small hymnal with meditations en face .

Peter Von Sivers appears to be persuading someone in the kitchen.

If Michael Morrissey doesn't mind too much, I will be calling him from now on by the nickname he has earned: "Transcendence Morrissey!"

Rhydon Jackson was my hotel-mate for four days. We have much in common (except for wear on the tires!). My birthday is his wedding day. His wife resembles (to my way of thinking) Isabella Brant, first wife of Peter Paul Rubens. Rhydon came to Voegelin after having gotten his mind around mathematics, physics, electrical engineering and computer programming.

The Jacksons plan to home school their children and Richard Geldard has just written a book to help them along.

Gilbert Weiss has just finished the Voegelin-Alfred Schütz correspondence. As Schütz' daughter, Evelyn Schütz Lang, who came from New York for the EV 100th Birthday Celebration, put it to me, Eric and Alfred were anchors for each other for forty years—until the death of her Father. I don't think there are immediate plans to translate the Correspondence into English.

Matthias Riedl is a scholar of Joachim and one of the Voegelinians who work at the University of Erlangen, Nuremberg.

Our host, Ken Quandt, relaxes for a photo, as does Richard Geldard. Richard organized the session on the pre-Socratics, which was my favorite.

Sunday Morning (The Last Session)

Barret Dolph, Barry Cooper and Dante Germino listen to the Sunday morning session on the question of whether the Voegelinian analysis of modern phenomena as "gnostic" is still a fruitful approach.

Dante Germino rises to make a point.

Although the camera was shakey, I would say Brendan Purcell comes through very clearly anyway!

Hans Jorg Sigwart, one of the Erlangen men, relaxes in the audience after having done good work earlier in the week.

Thomas Heilke and Klaus Vondung await their turns to offer critiques of the presenters, one of whom is Mark Sinnett of St. John's College, Annapolis.

Eugene Webb and Evelyn Schütz Lang listen to the last session. His Eric Voegelin, Philosopher of History was the first exposition of Voegelin's thought published, and the clarity of his style is unexcelled.

Thomas Hollweck was a presence at all the sessions. David Tresan, who so reminded me of Bruno Walter that I could not shake the image for hours, gave the most stimulating and stylish of all presentations in the session on the pre-Socratics.

Among those whom I did not photograph were: David Walsh, Walter Nicgorski, Stephen McKnight, Michael Franz, Athanasios Moulakis and Thomas McPartland (who's paper ended in a splendid flourish). I also missed Marie Baird, Margaret Hrezo, James L. Wiser, James Rhodes, Zdravko Planinc, Oona Ajzenstat, Richard Moortan, Todd Myers, Reinhold Knoll, René Girard, Manfred Henningsen and my fellow lawyers, Pat Martin and Pat Brown.

I took no photos on Thursday during the preliminary celebration, nor on Friday afternoon or during the day on Saturday. I missed the party in Mill Valley at Molly Sterling's on Sunday Afternoon. And I never got pictures of new friends like Joe Feeney of Baton Rouge or Claire Rawnsley, who came here all the way from Brisbane just for this, or of oldest acquaintance Bob Cihak, who brought for our enjoyment an old photo he took of EV in 1960.

This is being posted while it is all fresh, so if you see an error or omission, please let me know. The photos shown here are much reduced from the huge digital originals, so if anyone would like the large originals, let me know and I will send them.