Richard F. Thomas - Why Bob Dylan Matters

I have many people to thank, beginning with Jeff Rosen and his colleagues in Bob Dylans office, who have been so helpful and generous to scholars of Dylan over the years, myself included. Along with Jeff Rosen, I thank David Beal, Larry Jenkins, Debbie Sweeney, Raymond Foye, and Lynne Sheridan, the wonderful people whose judgment helps give access to the art of Bob Dylan even as they serve as judicious gatekeepers to the person of Bob Dylan.

Jessica Sindler, senior editor at Dey Street Books, first approached me about writing this book in October 2016, and I am grateful she did so, as I am for her expert help, guidance, admonishment, and encouragement.

Particular thanks are due to Jud Herrman, Tim Joseph, Kevin McGrath, and Mike Sullivan, bobfans, scholars, poets, and friends, who read a draft of the book.

Special thanks go to family, friends, and many others whose acquaintance I made over the years and who all contributed to this book: Stephen Hazan Arnoff, John Dan Bergan, Daniel Blanco, Barbara Boyd, Susannah Braund, Ward Briggs, John Broughton, Sergio Casali, Lydia Cawley, Michael Chaiken, Matthew Clark, James Clauss, Michael Cosmopoulos, Megan Devir, Will Dingee, Terry Gans, Elena Giusti, Joe Harris, John Henderson, Peter Knox, C. P. Lee, Catharine Mason, Tom Palaima, Hayden Pelliccia, Seth Pitman, Robert Polito, Samuel Puopolo, Iain Purdie, Sir Christopher Ricks, Chris Rollason, Ben Roy, Stephen Scobie, Jason Scorich, Lorri Shalley, Linda Stroback, Theoharis Theoharis, Joan Thomas, Julia Thomas, Sarah Thomas, Scott Warmuth, Rose Whitcomb, India Whitmarsh, Tim Whitmarsh, Elizabeth Wilson, Clem Wood, Teresa Wu, Jan Ziolkowski, Ted Ziolkowskiwith apologies to those whose names should be here but arent.

These are just some of the many people with whom I have traveled through my life with Dylan. I particularly acknowledge the dedicatees of this book, my freshman seminar students at Harvard from 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016, teenagers who decided that Bob Dylan was worth a quarter of their time for a semester, even to the puzzlement of their peers. The announcement of October 13, 2016, was vindication for them as it was for millions of us who have in their long or less-long lives known that something was happening here.

RICHARD F. THOMAS is the George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics at Harvard University, a Bob Dylan expert, and the creator of a freshman seminar at Harvard on Bob Dylan. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

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