JAVIER MARÍAS

 

Javier Marías (1951-2022) has just died. I asked him for a Prologue for one of my books. He declined, arguing that he never wrote prologues. Later I sent him a copy of my Diccionario panhispánico de citas where he is included, and also his father. He sent me Ehrengard Isak Dinesen, Prólogo y traducción de Javier Marías, where he wrote to me: "Para Delfín Carbonell, sólo a título de traductor y editor, agradeciéndole su Panhispánico y que me haya incluido en él." And then, below, he added a PS.: "Como cita sobre mi padre, por cierto, podía usted haber elegido alguna más justa y más simpática. Hay muchas." I find his passing a great loss, particularly because it was premature and thus unexpected.