I wrote a short essay about my friend and mentor John Merriman for a special section of the Revue d’histoire du XIXe siècle. It appeared alongside lovely “hommages” by Michelle Perrot, Peter McPhee and Maya Jasanoff. Here is a version in English: I met John Merriman for the first time in February, 1990. He had invited me to Yale for a job interview. To my surprise, he came to meet me himself at the New Haven train station, in his usual black leather jacket. His hair was uncombed, his shirt wrinkled, and the back seat of his car was covered with books, papers and food wrappers. In short, he did not exactly correspond to the image that I had a of a famous Yale professor, already the author of several classic works on nineteenth-century France. He did everything possible to put me at ease, chatting about his children, his wife, his students, and his beloved football team from the University of Michigan. If we had been speaking in French he would have called invited me to call him “tu” from the start. Thanks to him, the anxiety I had felt about the interview dissipated immediately. The visit went well, and I got the job.
Inspiring life. Moving tribute. Thanks for sharing these warm memories of a great man and historian.