BOOK REVIEW: Robert Maynard Hutchins: A Memoir by Milton Mayer

I’m oddly fascinated by Robert Maynard Hutchins (one-time president of the University of Chicago) and his wife Maude Phelps McVeigh (a sculptress and author.)  See previous reviews: A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books by Alex Beam and An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee that Redefined Freedom of the Press by Stephen Bates.

Robert Maynard Hutchins: A Memoir by Milton Mayer is a biography of Hutchins, written by his friend and aide. (Even Mayer had a hard time explaining what he actually did as Hutchins’ aide.) The book does a good job of taking the reader through Hutchins’ professional life and gives a half-hearted nod to his private life. He uses quotes extensively, showing the convictions and contradictions of his subject. And he gives his own interpretation of Hutchins, which varies from fawning to disappointed and sour.

I can recommend this book for its facts, but it’s a slog to read. The prose is turgid. And when Mayer tries to be coy, he’s obtuse. There is humor, but it’s all Hutchins’. I have another biography on my shelf, Unseasonable Truths: The Life of Robert Maynard Hutchins by Harry S. Ashmore, that I’ll try next.