tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312826199921098655.post6521895634515563422..comments2023-12-04T03:37:31.401-05:00Comments on The Hedge Mason: Tristram P. Coffin, Folklorist.E C Ballard ஃhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15467348696099148972noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312826199921098655.post-86442652678634297512021-11-14T16:22:52.264-05:002021-11-14T16:22:52.264-05:00Coffin was the rare scholar who both excelled at h...Coffin was the rare scholar who both excelled at his work and was truly humble. <br /><br />One example: he created an extensive index to the Journal of American Folklore (including, if I remember correctly, over 70 years of journals, all indexed lovingly and impeccably). <br /><br />Rather that vaunting the importance of this particular work (and it was important and very well done) he titled his introduction (to the index), "The Troubles of a Harmless Drudge." (This was a reference to a definition written by Samuel Johnson in his famed dictionary). <br /><br />I never met Coffin, but neither have I read anything by or about him that lacked that combination of impeccable scholarship with relaxed humility.Doug Lipman, Storytelling Coachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13534078898294318075noreply@blogger.com