閱讀塞繆爾·烏爾曼 Samuel Ullman在散文天地的作品!!! | |||
塞繆爾·烏爾曼(Samuel Ullman)1840年生於德國，童年時移居美國。參加過南北戰爭，後來定居於拉巴馬州的伯明翰市。他是一位五金製品商，熱心公益67年如一日。在其生前的最後幾年，他曾日本得到一本書及其作品的錄音盒帶稿酬36,000美元，並全部捐贈給伯明翰市的一所亞拉巴馬州立大學作為奬學基金。
《青春》有的版本譯為《年輕》。是德裔美籍人塞繆爾.厄爾曼70多年前寫的一篇衹有四百多字的短文。首次在美國發表的時候，曾在廣大讀者中引起轟動效應，成千上萬的讀者把它抄下來當作座右銘收藏，許多中老年人把它當作為安排後半生的精神支柱。據說美國的麥剋阿瑟將軍在指揮整個太平洋戰爭期間，辦公桌上始終擺着裝有短文《年輕》復印件的鏡框，文中的許多的詞句常被他在談話或開會作報告時引用。後來此文傳到日本，文章的觀點成為許多日本人生活哲學的基礎，他們甚至將此文裝在隨身帶的皮夾子裏，有空就讀一遍。著名的鬆下公司的創始人鬆下幸之助說：“多年來，《年輕》始終是我的座右銘。”
Born in 1840 at Hechingen, Hohenzollern to Jewish parents, Ullman immigrated with his family to America to escape discrimination at the age of eleven. The Ullman family settled in Port Gibson, Mississippi. After briefly serving in the Confederate Army, he became a resident of Natchez, Mississippi. There, Ullman married, started a business, served as a city alderman, and was a member of the local board of education.
In 1884, Ullman moved to the young city of Birmingham, Alabama, and was immediately placed on the city's first board of education.
During his eighteen years of service, he advocated educational benefits for black children similar to those provided for whites. In addition to his numerous community activities, Ullman also served as president and then lay rabbi of the city's reform congregation at Temple Emanu-El. Often controversial but always respected, Ullman left his mark on the religious, educational, and community life of Natchez and Birmingham.
In his retirement, Ullman found more time for one of his favorite passions - writing letters, essays and poetry. His poems and poetic essays cover subjects as varied as love, nature, religion, family, the hurried lifestyle of a friend, and living "young." It was General Douglas MacArthur who facilitated Ullman's popularity as a poet - he hung a framed copy of a version of Ullman's poem "Youth" on the wall of his office in Tokyo and often quoted from the poem in his speeches. Through MacArthur's influence, the people of Japan discovered "Youth" and became curious about the poem's author.
In 1924, Ullman died in Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1994, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Japan-America Society of Alabama opened the Samuel Ullman Museum in Birmingham's Southside neighborhood. The museum is located in the former Ullman residence and is operated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.