Charles Webb died today at the age of 81. He was the author of THE GRADUATE, which, in turn, was made into the eponymous movie in the late 1960s. The movie was a huge financial success (the soundtrack contained Simon and Garfunkel's most famous songs). But Charles, who had attended an expensive prep school and had graduated from Williams, eschewed money in general and wealth overall. I have written "Wealth is not worth;" Charles and his wife personified my sentiment. They gave away everything of worth they had--and they had tons of things of great worth. They lived their long lives in what others called extreme poverty, but they knew early on that financial wealth was, indeed, not spiritual worth. If Earth is to survive, those who call Earth their home will necessarily have to learn and practice, to an appreciable degree, what Charles and his wife learned and practived their entire adult lives.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
A graduate of Andover and Columbia College. Columbia University, Tod Howard Hawks has been a poet, a novelist, and a human-rights advocate his entire adult life.
