Paul Fussell was a great writer and scholar and, in the three years before his death yesterday, an Oregonian.
Obituaries are beginning to appear around the world, but the best honor one could pay to the man is to read his writing. Fussell stripped war of heroism and romance. His voice was steady, clear and honest and on basically every subject, worth hearing.
In the excerpt below, from a 1982 essay on his experiences during the American invasion of Vichy France in World War II, Fussell explains how he came to his subject:
WWeek 2015