[Ads-l] Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED

[Ben Zimmer]

I also count myself as a David Shulman protege. I first met him back in the
'80s when I was a teenager, since we were both members of the National
Puzzlers League. He took me around to some of his favorite haunts in
Manhattan, including a Scrabble club, his office space crammed with papers,
and of course the NYPL. That obviously planted a seed for the research I'd
later do. He also inspired me to start contributing to the OED.

When I joined ADS-L in the fall of 2004, I was sad to see one of the first
messages was Gerald Cohen's announcement that David had died. But I did
manage to go to his funeral at a Staten Island cemetery, where Barry and I
were among the only attendees (though many others sent their regrets). I
brought the obituary the New York Times ran for him, portions of which were
read for the eulogy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/nyregion/a-man-of-many-words-david-shulman-dies-at-91.html

On Tue, Sep 5, 2023 at 9:01 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> When I first became obsessed with antedating the OED, I had to frequent
> the largest libraries because the way to do antedating was to randomly skim
> old books or journals or do focused research for particular terms.  So I
> hung out at the two great libraries I had access to, the Harvard University
> Library and the New York Public Library.  One day, while I was sitting at a
> table at NYPL with about 10 very big volumes of the OED scattered around me
> (antedating back them could be physically very cumbersome), an elderly
> gentleman approached me and asked why I had so many volumes of the OED
> scattered around me.  That was David Shulman.
>
> Shulman became something of a mentor for me and, I believe, for Barry
> Popik as well.  He boasted that he was actually paid money by the OED.  I
> looked up his articles in American Speech.  He told me that he had been a
> cryptographer and had donated his fine collection of books on cryptography
> to NYPL.  He was never a participant in ADS-L.  The fact that the OED is
> still listing him as a significant contributor two decades after his death
> says something.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bill
> Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 3:47 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Fw: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED
>
>
>
> I see David Shulman's name listed as well.  Was he a member?  I understand
> he passed away not too long before I became active on the list (2005 or
> so).  At any rate, I recall his name and contributions used to get
> mentioned regularly.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben
> Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Monday, September 4, 2023 10:19 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED
>
> Thanks for the heads-up, Fred. Here's a link to the relevant page on the
> OED site:
>
>
> https://www.oed.com/information/about-the-oed/oed-staff/#Other-advisers-and-contributors
>
> On Mon, Sep 4, 2023 at 7:32 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > I see that another ADS-L community member who is mentioned is Michael
> > Quinion.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> > Sent: Monday, September 4, 2023 7:28 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Members of the ADS-L Community and the OED
> >
> > While looking at the online material about the OED in its new website, I
> > notice that four present or past members of the ADS-L community are
> > mentioned as significant contributors: Bill Mullins, Barry Popik, Ben
> > Zimmer, and myself.
>
>

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