Neat post to a Joyce list I'm on, from Ed Germain.

About 1983, I asked Marie Jolas about James Joyce's relationship to women. As well as I can recall verbatim, this is what she said:

"He was always polite to women, always. He was always a gentleman, always courteous, gracious to women... And he would ask questions of women that no one else would, no other man would."

What kind of questions, I asked her.

"What is it like to give birth? What is it like to menstruate? Many questions like that."

And women answered? I asked.

"Yes. We all told him. He was so interested and courteous. He listened."

Marie Jolas and her husband Eugene knew Joyce quite well. Eugene published "Work in Progress" in his magazine, transition.

last modified: 21:57:29 27-Mar-2002
in categories:People/Heroes, Arts/Literature