Chris Kerr of Parson Weems sends this appreciation:
Publishing lost a friend last week. Sam Plummer (Samuel C. Plummer, IV), long-time textbook editor and writer, died of leukemia on April 7. His wife, Vera Plummer, is the widely-admired, long-tenured manager of trade sales at Oxford University Press. Sam was known for his wit, devotion to classical music and opera and commitment to public service. He was an active member of the Croton on Hudson (N.Y.) Caring Committee and a former school board member. Among his friends, he is remembered for the constancy of his devotion to the Chicago Cubs. A Yankees fan Web site, Bronx Banter, noted that Sam was "straight-outta-the Midwest" even though he had lived in New York more than 30 years, and that he was also a "classic Yankee-hater" but that "it wasn't personal."
A memorial card prepared by his family quotes an apt poem by Alexander Pope:
But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
Still pleas'd to teach, yet not proud to know?
Unbias'd, or by favour or by spite;
Not dully prepossess'd nor blindly right;
Though learn'd, well-bred; and though well bred and sincere;
Modestly bold, and humanly severe?
Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
A knowledge both of books and human kind;
Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
And love to praise, with reason on his side?
Publishing lost a friend last week. Sam Plummer (Samuel C. Plummer, IV), long-time textbook editor and writer, died of leukemia on April 7. His wife, Vera Plummer, is the widely-admired, long-tenured manager of trade sales at Oxford University Press. Sam was known for his wit, devotion to classical music and opera and commitment to public service. He was an active member of the Croton on Hudson (N.Y.) Caring Committee and a former school board member. Among his friends, he is remembered for the constancy of his devotion to the Chicago Cubs. A Yankees fan Web site, Bronx Banter, noted that Sam was "straight-outta-the Midwest" even though he had lived in New York more than 30 years, and that he was also a "classic Yankee-hater" but that "it wasn't personal."
A memorial card prepared by his family quotes an apt poem by Alexander Pope:
But where's the man, who counsel can bestow,
Still pleas'd to teach, yet not proud to know?
Unbias'd, or by favour or by spite;
Not dully prepossess'd nor blindly right;
Though learn'd, well-bred; and though well bred and sincere;
Modestly bold, and humanly severe?
Who to a friend his faults can freely show,
And gladly praise the merit of a foe?
Blest with a taste exact, yet unconfin'd;
A knowledge both of books and human kind;
Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride;
And love to praise, with reason on his side?