Phila. declares Feb. 7 'Tom Stoppard Day'

To cap off Tom Stoppard's three-day visit to campus earlier this month, the playwright attended a reception and dinner at Eisenlohr Hall hosted by University President Judith Rodin. The climax of the event occurred when Rodin announced that Mayor Ed Rendell had prepared an official proclamation declaring February 7 "Tom Stoppard Day" in Philadelphia. "In The Third Man, Orson Welles observed that, 'In Italy, for 30 years, the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and peace -- and what did that produce? the cuckoo clock!' " the proclamation began. "What to make of a former journalist who was born in Czechoslovakia, has lived in Singapore, India and Great Britain, and who has risen to the top of the literary ziggurat by plying his craft on the high-wire nexus of art, politics and social commentary," the document read. Rodin read the entire transcript of the proclamation, which also lists Stoppard's most acclaimed works, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Arcadia, Travesties, The Real Thing and his most recent work, India Ink. "Writers are not scared, but words are, and ideas matter," the proclamation continued. "Mr. Stoppard's words and ideas on the op-ed pages of the world's newspapers have crystalized our thinking on a host of issues, most notably Communism and its corrosive effect." Rendell's proclamation then explained that Stoppard has put many sensitive issues like love, trust and loyalty into words that people can grasp onto and comprehend. The final paragraph stated that 19 months ago, a writer named Vaclav Havel -- who now serves as president of the Czech Republic -- came to Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal. "Tonight, another Czech-born writer has honored Philadelphia with his presence," the final sentence read. "And for that, Mr. Stoppard, we thank you for standing tall against the forces of vapid plots, witless prose, insipid dialogue and other evils that have grabbed our culture by the throat." The next day, Stoppard acknowledged Rendell's gesture. "I plan to come back next year to make sure this town is still celebrating Tom Stoppard Day," he said.