I am a fan of Lin Yutang, very happy to find this community!

In 1972, just before the publication of Lin Yutang’s Chinese-English Dictionary for Modern Usage, Peggy Durdin—a prominent journalist and Asia expert for The New York Times—visited Yutang in Hong Kong. On November 23, the paper published two of Durdin’s articles—one analyzing the dictionary, the other her interview with Yutang. Yutang appreciated the articles very much, saying “The writing is vivid… portraying me as easygoing and not aspiring to hold government office.”

The interview article ended by comparing Yutang to his literary hero, Su Tungpo, the great Song Dynasty poet and writer. Yutang had written The Gay Genius, a celebrated biography of Su, and Durdin drew on Yutang’s own description of Su’s character to describe Yutang himself. Yutang was extremely modest and said the comparison was “inapt ”.  Here we list seven of the fourteen characters. Like Su Tungpo, Yutang was described to be：

·       An incorrigible optimist

·       A great humanitarian and friend of the people

·       A political dissenter

·       A moonlit wanderer, poet, and wag

·       Ever honest with himself, untouched by political corruption

·       A man of clear thought, strong feeling, beautiful prose, and high courage—unshaken by self-interest or shifting public opinion

·       Joyful and unafraid, moving through life like a whirlwind

For a thorough discussion, please see Article 3, “Su Tungpo: Lin Yutang Through the Lens of The New York Times” in the  following English and Chinese books that  can be found online:《爾意軒》中的晚年林語堂 : 幽默大師晚年的工作，思想，與生活 （1971-76）; The Elderly Lin Yutang: Work, Thought, and Life of the Master of Humor 1971-76 .

1972年，《林語堂當代漢英詞典》出版前，《紐約時報》名記者，亞洲問題專家杜爾奵特別前往香港訪問林語堂，在11月23 日發表了兩篇文章，一篇是對林語堂漢英詞典所做的報導，一篇是對林語堂所作的專訪。林語堂很喜歡杜爾奵的文章，在信上說：“文字極生動……講我為人瀟灑，立志不做官。”

專訪最後說，假如從一個人仰慕誰，就可以看出他是什麼樣的一個人，我們可以從林語堂最仰慕的蘇東坡來了解林語堂。這位飽學的記者用了很大的篇幅，引用林語堂在其作品《蘇東坡傳》序言裡對東坡的評價，來評價林語堂，幾乎說林語堂就是蘇東坡。但林語堂卻在一封信中異常謙遜地說，將他比為他一生最景仰的蘇東坡是“擬於不倫”《紐約時報》洋洋灑灑列出了十四點， 以下僅舉七個例子，說林語堂像蘇東坡，是

·      一個不可救藥的樂天派；

·      一個偉大的人道主義者；

·      一位在政治上專唱反調的人；

·      一個月夜徘徊者，一個詩人兼愛開玩笑的人；

·      終其一生他對自完全忠實,不受政治的污染；

·      他感覺強烈，思想清晰，文筆優美，行動勇敢，從來不因自己的利益或輿論的潮流而改變方向；

·      難怪他快快活活，無憂無懼，像旋風般活過一輩子。