Comment by Steve Van Dien on Tuesday, Jul 29 at 08:17 PM

Ten years later, 92-year-old Stanley Kauffmann is still at work. I've read his books and journalism since 1982. He helped me realize that for better or worse, I too am a critic. And I have learned more from Kauffmann's work than my present writing ability can adequately articulate. Kauffmann is the best contemporary American film critic, and -- with James Agee, Otis Ferguson, Dwight Macdonald, John Simon and Vernon Young -- one of the best in film history. His broad background in the arts, particularly literature, theater and music, gives him an especially broad perspective. And Kauffmann, by damn, can write. As Roger Ebert has noted, Kauffmann can express a great deal with only a few words. I don't always agree with him. But reading Kauffmann always makes me reevaluate my opinions. He makes his readers think deeply and carefully. And since criticism is an art -- not a science -- encouraging thought about a creative endeavor (indeed, about whether any such endeavor is art or isn't art) is the critic's most important role. Echoing Gore Vidal's comment about V.S. Pritchett, it would be nice if Stanley Kauffman could live forever.