No other philosopher has played a more integral role in the development of Columbia University Press’s list than Gianni Vattimo. He has been part of my program since its inception and even earlier—since I first joined the Press in 2001, hired to edit not philosophy but religion titles. His book After Christianity, his first translation published by Columbia, was then in production.
He went on to publish many more books with us and contributed to several more. There was scarcely a time, up to the publication of his final work, Of Reality: The Purposes of Philosophy, in 2017, when we were not acquiring, translating, editing, publishing, and marketing a Vattimo book. The success of his writings enabled me to begin a defined philosophy list in 2005.
Over our long relationship we published The Future of Religion, coauthored with Richard Rorty; After the Death of God, with John Caputo; A Farewell to Truth, and twelve more. But he also established a legacy of students who launched their publishing careers at Columbia and became highly valued authors in their own right, including Santiago Zabala and Michael Marder.
On a more personal note, Gianni was the first internationally renowned philosopher whose work I edited, and when I was to meet him for the first time I was, frankly, a little nervous. But his reputation for charm was well deserved. He put me at ease immediately, and we went on to talk for many hours over unending glasses of red wine, outlasting several others who had joined us, until the restaurant closed. To this day I think of this encounter as “My Dinner with Gianni.” I will miss him very, very much, as will everyone at the Press.