During a long conversation recently with Bob Weinberg in his living room surrounded by original Pulp art on the wall, when we were discussing the “Forthcoming Arkham House List,” I noted that of course, all this would have to be done with a large dollop of of diplomacy and wisdom. Bob immediately retorted with a glimmer in his eye, somewhat malevolently humorous in nature; “That’s a good motto! Which do you want to be ‘Diplomacy’ or ‘Wisdom’ and then chuckled with that same touch of humo(u)r in his voice. I thought about it for perhaps a second or two and said “Diplomacy.”
Now that’s not entirely truthful, but it is a goal to aspire to! I have been described by my friends — and by people who cannot yet be called friends — as “Like a bull in a China Shop” or “Peck’s Bad Boy,” but hopefully with Wisdom (Bob) my well meaning actions can be interpreted as “diplomatic.”
And so the Motto is “With Wisdom and Diplomacy” and the order is significant because ‘W’ follows ‘V’ in the alphabet. I suppose the alternative would also be acceptable in Latin! It only remains to translate it into Latin, French, German and Spanish.
Latin because it is the official language of the Necronomicon; French because it is the second official language in Canada; Spanish because it is the second unofficial language in the US of A; and German because there are a lot of Arkham collectors there.
Latin: Sapientiant Astutiantque or alternatively Astutiant Sapientiantque
French: Avec Sagesse et Diplomatie
German: Mit Weisheit und Diplomatie
Polish: Z Ma*broscia* i Diplomaca*
Swedish: Med visdom och diplomati
Dutch: Met Wijsheid en Diplomatie
Suggestions welcome in no particular order for Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, Danish, Russian, Yiddish and of course Swahili.
