Marshall Sahlins, anthropological giant and renowned press writer, died earlier this week at his home in Hyde Park. Best known for his ethnographic work in the Pacific and his contributions to anthropological theory, he is Charles F. Gray’s distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Chicago and author of a lot of books. Retired anthropology editor T. David Brent has the honor of working with Sahlins throughout his career, and he offers these memorable words to an important writer and friend.

Marshall Sahlins is a distinguished scholar, a great anthropologist, a valuable writer from the University of Chicago Press, and a dear friend of mine. I have had the honor of being the editor of several of his books including History Island (1985), Anahul: Historical Anthropology in the Kingdom of Hawaii volumes 1 & 2, co-authored by Patrick V. Kirch (1992), How “Natives” Think: About Captain Cook, For example (1995), An Apology to Thucydides: Understanding History as Culture and Vice Versa (2004) and What Is Kinship. . . And not (2013). I also help shepherd it Culture and Practical Reasons (1976) became a publication after I joined the Press in 1974. We have been friends and colleagues for nearly half a century.

Marshall and I joke, argue, and laugh at lunches, dinner parties, and our beloved Chicago Cubs baseball games (one of which we attend with permission from the University of Chicago Press, which Marshall conditions before signing his contract). However, when considering a work for publication, he did not want an editor in the conventional sense; she wants and needs a friendly advocate who can understand and defend her work, give her a financially fair deal, and influence her cover design, promotion, and publicity. He was demanding, but his demands were always matched by charm and good taste.

I hate turning down Marshall’s requests, even impractical ones. There has never been a fear close to Sorry for Thucydides. Marshall proposed, or rather insisted, that the Press include a marker printed with a diagram of the kinship of certain royal rulers in Hawai’i on 19^th century. I explained to him that it would be technically difficult, a sizable additional cost would have to be added to the book’s price list, and that I couldn’t get it to be approved by my peers. It costs too much for too little profit. He threatened to withdraw the book.

I appealed to my colleagues in the production department with our counter-proposal to insert a printed page with a hole in it so that the reader could be removed so that it would be useful when reading a book. This, too, was vetoed. Fortunately, at the last minute, our editorial colleague Elizabeth Branch Dyson (now Executive Editor and Assistant Editorial Director) had the brilliant idea of ​​printing the diagram on the last page of the book with fake perforated lines so readers could cut it out. and use it as Marshall wishes. We all agreed, and the day – and the book – was saved. I highly doubt any book owner has ever tapped into this typographic innovation, but it pleases Marshall, and that’s all that matters.

From time to time Marshall recommended that I consider other people’s work, but he never intervened in a single decision I made about other people’s work during my long career as an anthropology editor. I once asked him why he was never a member of the University Publications Faculty Board. He said it was because the Chancellor’s office never asked. I suspect this is because the University administration – which Marshall screwed up in many ways over the decades – feared that he would use his strong wits and charms to persuade others into his view. And they must be right.

—T. David Brent