anonymity on the P-List WAS RE: Re. thoughts

[Doug Millison]

Re the comment from "Henry Musikar", I just think it's funny to see one
P-List participant (Morris) who uses (hides behind?) an anonymous
@yahoo.com email address, giving others such a hard time about doing the
same, and actually making allegations about other folks who may not be
using their real names when they post on the P-list. Pot calling the kettle
black, so to speak. (Although I don't put Max and Morris in the same
category at all, noting that Max has never posted anything derogatory about
other P-listers, even in the face of nasty accusations from rj and Morris
and the host of anonymous voices that chimed in during that feeding frenzy
-- to the contrary, in my years on the P-list, Max has only written posts
of substance, focused on Pynchon's books, sharing the fruit of deep
research and thought.)

Personally, I don't care who's who or not or what on Pynchon-L, until we
get to the point where anonymous posters start creating so much static that
it drowns out those of us who want to talk about Pynchon. I choose to post
under my real name, and I wish others would do the same because I think
people may be a bit more careful about what they say when they post under
their real names. Maybe not, although such a policy works well in email
groups where people have to register under their real names (The Well, for
example).

"Henry" says "this identity thing is really rather funny on a list devoted
to TRP's writing" echoing comments from earlier versions of this
discussion, re anonymity. But what does TRP have to do with it? He
publishes his books and essays under his own name -- he's not "anonymous",
not to his friends, his publisher, to the world at large. He does stay out
of the limelight, but that hardly makes him "anonymous".  We know a great
deal about his life and biography, after all, perhaps not as much as we
know about other writers, but a lot nonetheless. Unless your point is that
TRP advocates anonymous Internet pranks -- and where would you get that
idea? (Yes, I do know that in his introduction to _Stone Junction_ Pynchon
spoke directly to the question of privacy and civil liberties and the
Internet, but he doesn't say anything about anonymity.)

One more thing -- there's a David Morris in my local phone book, too. Maybe
I'll give him a call.

d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n
http://www.millison.com
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