ALA Conference 2009: At FTRF Gala, Stirring Memorial for Judith Krug
ALA Annual Conference: Colleagues, family, friends celebrate and reflect on Freedom To Read Foundation (FTRF) founder Judith Krug
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 7/14/2009
- Founder of Freedom To Read Foundation
- Awards from Thomas Jefferson Center, FTRF
- Character and achievements celebrated
The 40th anniversary celebration of the Freedom To Read Foundation (FTRF), held on July 12 at the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, was much more than a celebration—it was a stirring and touching memorial for FTRF founder Judith Krug, who died in April (pictured at left with author Judy Blume in this 2008 photo from FTRF).
Krug led the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), founded Banned Books Week, and was for decades at the center of censorship debates. A picture of a tough-minded, savvy, energetic, and inspiring figure emerged at the memorial. FTRF Board President Judith Platt told the crowd, “Of the personal and professional joys of my working life, I would put the collaborative trust and love that developed between Judith Krug and myself at the top of the list."
“When authors and librarians and booksellers and publishers stand together in defense of free expression, we are unstoppable,” declared Platt, also director of the ALA’s Freedom to Read program, “and we send the book burners back to their dark little holes with their tails between their legs.”
“If we are diminished by Judy’s death, we are enriched by her legacy,” she said. “The only way to truly honor her legacy is to continue this work with all the courage we can muster.” (A public memorial service, as well, was held on July 10 at the Hyatt Grand Regency Hotel in Chicago.)
The Brennan Award and Krug’s strategies
The William J. Brennan, Jr. Award, given to a person or group for demonstrating commitment to principles of free expression, has been presented only five times since 1993, with Krug its only posthumous recipient.
Robert M. O’Neil, founding director of the Thomas Jefferson Center, offered a thorough reflection on Krug’s role in shaping the landscape of libraries and free expression. When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed in 1981 to review its first library case, which limited the authority of a school board to remove library books, “it may have been Steve Pico and his family who filed the complaint, but it was unmistakably Judith Krug and counsel that shaped arguments that so profoundly influenced the course of First Amendment law.”
O’Neil noted that Krug, known as a very tough negotiator, thoughtfully compromised on this and several other cases. Without concessions by Krug that a book could be removed for pervasive vulgarity or not supporting a school’s educational mission, he reflected, “I doubt there would have been a plurality, much less a bare majority for the principles that came to constitute Justice Brennan’s Pico opinion and its progeny.”
“Where would we be if Judith Krug had not been our colleague, and, indeed, our conscience?” he asked, suggesting that Krug had induced—he amended that to “coerced”—various groups to collaborate on a national conversation about privacy.
He also said that a somewhat skeptical 2002 report on Internet filters from the National Research Council, Youth, Pornography, and the Internet, reflected Krug’s influence. “As many of you know, Judith saw the potential for risk and the potential success,” he said, noting that she had exhibited in this instance “her usual ferocity.”
Krug as a lawyer
“Any lawyer who works in First Amendment law is keenly aware of Judith’s influence,” O’Neil said. “We ought to admit candidly she engaged shamelessly but most effectively in the unlicensed practice of law.”
“Time and again, Judith emboldened the people she needed,” O’Neil said, remembering how, during a meeting of the Free Expression Network on litigation strategy, Krug had explained how the
y could challenge Internet filters in attacking the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), at same time suggesting that filters were a preferable alternative to the “crude sanctions” (fines) imposed by the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). “After we agonized for two hours, Judith waved her hand and said, ‘Go for it.’”
Family recognition
Krug’s daughter, Michelle Litchman, accepting the Brennan award, offered deft and charming remarks. She noted the similarities between herself and her mother but also acknowleded that she could never match her mother’s accomplishment of having a baby and birthing FTRF in the same year.
Litchman said she had been visiting her mother Tuesdays after Krug’s cancer returned and, on one of those days, the call from O’Neil about the Brennan award came.
Her mother, she said, had tears running down her face. “She was rendered speechless,” Litchman reflected. “If you knew my mom well, that was quite an accomplishment indeed.”
Founder's Award
Author Judy Blume presented FTRF's posthumous Founder's Award to Krug's husband, Herb. "The plan of course was that I would present this award to Judith in person," Blume told the group. "'Don't worry about me,' she said last fall. 'I'm way too mean to die.'"Mean, however, was not the word to describe Krug, Blume said: “Just ask her family... Try determined, tough, strong, courageous, loyal, and unstoppable.”
Blume, verging on tears, remembered how she once admired a “Sarah Palin jacket” Krug sported (purchased before the VP candidate emerged). “Thanks to her and Michelle and [son] Steven, that jacket now hangs in my closet," Blume reflected. "Every time I open that door, Judith the outstanding shopper is with me.”
“She would kill me if I get emotional,” Blume said, adding, “Damn, we’re gonna miss you.”
Herb Krug, accepting the award, declared, “Since we are no longer supporting the 'Saks Fifth Avenue endowment fund,' we will pledge an additional $10,000 for a fund that I hope the board will designate for some noble purpose.”
Then, in a moment of drama made pregnant by a slight technical glitch, he turned on a tape recorder and played an audio recording of the honoree herself, declaring in a firm voice that people should have full access to the information they want, “whether or not anyone else in the country likes what they want to see.”
Keynote and closing
At any other event, the keynote speaker, noted author and attorney Scott Turow, would have been the main event. His remarks about free expression and the importance of reading were well-received, almost as a palate cleanser after the intensely emotional reflections on Krug.
In closing, Columbia University librarian Jim Neal, the FTRF treasurer, cited ten components of Krug's remarkable career: librarian; “legal genius;” administrator/strategist; teacher; author/scholar; policy advocate; spokesperson for the library community; politician; leader in the wider intellectual freedom and rights communities; and "a colleague great to be with and fun."
He observed of Krug, “When I think about her career, I become exhausted. When I think about her life, I become energized.”
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