MEMORIAL ADDRESS

delivered at the funeral of

William Jourdan Rapp

at

Calvary Episcopal Church
New York

Friday, August 14, 1942

by

the Rev. Dr. Charles Francis Potter

WE ARE here to honor the memory of William Jourdan Rapp. Of his public life I shall say nothing, for it has been amply covered in the obituary notices in the press. There is no need to tell you who knew him that he was a man of extraordinary vitality, that he was a man who enjoyed life, and achieved success in many fields—as playwright, journalist, editor, public speaker and spiritual leader. I wish to speak briefly about the more intimate side of his life—his character and his unique personality.

He knew the meaning of friendship—and all of us here today will carry with us forever the profound and still living values of our friendship with this unusual man. We will remember his imagination, his courage, the warmth of his affections, his robust humor, and the energy and creativeness that gave so much color and depth and understanding to the lives of those he touched.

In the days to come, each of us will treasure some particular experience, some moment of rare devotion, of sacrifice, of generosity, of mutual adventure that we have gone through with him. But if we add together all our memories and our knowledge of him, one fact and one truth shines out above everything else. William Jourdan Rapp was a *good* man.

BY THE word "good" I don't mean he was merely kind, although he was that. Or just thoughtful—and he was that too. I mean that he believed in goodness, as an active principle of life. He spoke for goodness, wrote for it, and fought for it. In all his relationships with people, in all the fields of his endeavor, he carried the banner of a militant goodness.

He was among the first to hate Hitlerism for its slavery and its degradation of the human spirit. He warned against its coming to power, and when it did, in all its horror and evil, he turned his immense energies to a struggle which should admit of no compromise and no surrender.

This is a fight that brings out the full stature of a man. We can see, at this time, those who are cowards at heart—the compromisers, the timid men, who think that the future will take care of itself and we needn't worry too much about the present. But Mr. Rapp belonged to those who believed that the world will only become a better place, that mankind can only fulfill its inherent promise, when men of good will stand together and make this world what it ought to be.

He gave gladly and completely of his talents, his time and his leadership to the cause of enlightened humanity.

This glad and complete giving was the expression of a deep-rooted idealism—an idealism born of his contacts with numerous men and women, out of his close association with many of us here today. Race, color, creed constituted no barrier to his friendship and devotion. For he believed, quite simply, in the equality of men. This belief had grown out of many years of experience in all parts of the world. He knew Greece better than most of its natives. He knew France and Italy and England and Germany and Turkey. But most important, he knew the people of these countries. He understood them and loved them.

YES, he loved people—loved to work with them, gave freely of himself, and rejoiced in what was given to him. Out of all this came his unyielding belief in those words that have begun to acquire a new meaning in our time—the dignity of man.

And I think that it is important for us to say here: he gathered the rewards of this belief. For his love of his fellow men, his ceaseless joy in them, kept him from being tied down by the chains of boredom and dullness and confusion and indecision. He lived a full life. He never lost a child-like wonder at the mysteries and the beauties of life.

His curiosity was inexhaustible, because he not only loved life—he respected it, and found everything in it significant and interesting. He had but one attitude, and it was this: Life can be good, and there is no room in it for those who strive to overwhelm it with evil.

I have here a letter that I'd like to read to you. It is a precious document, because it enables us to see his life in full perspective, and reveals the richness of his personality. It was written by Dr. William L. Stidger, professor of homiletics at the Boston University School of Theology, on the occasion of Mr. Rapp's resignation from True Story Magazine:

My dear Bill Rapp:

I can tell you now a few things I have always wanted to tell you, without being accused of currying favor with an editor for whom I hope to write acceptable pieces.

So, first, I want to tell you that I have been going to school to you for about ten years. I have learned more from you about writing than I have ever learned from courses in English and college professors. You have taught me

more about what to write and how to write it than I ever knew before (and I
have written 48 books).

Second: You have given me a new appreciation for the evangelistic note in writing and thinking. It seems strange, but you have had a deeper appreciation of this than most preachers I have known in the church. Prayer, conversion, service, the deeper spiritual life—these have had more of a response in your editorial mind than in the minds of any I know. You have taken my own writing and made it live, because you have recognized the parts that had a universal reality.

Third: I am deeply appreciative of your straight-from-the-shoulder, knock-down-and-drag-out criticisms. I have never known a man who has talked as straight and honestly to me as you have, who has bulldozed me into trying to write carefully, as you have. I have sat in Doc's rooms while you have yipped, yelled and stormed at me—chuckling to myself that I had at last found somebody who talked straight to me. You will never know how much I have enjoyed and appreciated it.

Fourth: I have a profound respect for your deep integrity and sincerity. I have seen it shining through all that you have said and done in our relationships.

Fifth: I have always got a kick out of your unbounded enthusiasms, your everlasting energy, your confidence in your own experience, success and opinions. And I have always admired the liberal views you championed, and the intelligent way you did it.

Sixth: I have always admired your undismayed loyalty to the whole social cause. You have been unflinching in that, and against all odds you have stood your ground and have never wavered. You have an honest, experienced social viewpoint, and that has heartened me through all these years.

Seventh: I have always admired your loyalty to your lovely wife, your children and your home. I remember that you once said a thing I have often quoted since—that the man who lacks that loyalty is “adolescent”, and I think you are right. Your evident delight and satisfaction in your children have warmed my heart many times. And in this category, too, has been your friendship for Mr. Morris and your long years of business and personal association with him.

I have long wanted to say these things to you—have had the impulse when we were together often, but you were always like a humming bird just ready to jump to another flower, and I never felt you would have time to stop your motors long enough to listen to all I had to say.

I don't know what you are going to do, but I do know that whatever you put your hand and mind and heart to, will be done with such energy, enthusiasm and skill that your future will be even more successful and satisfying to yourself and your friends, than even your past efforts. So I do not worry about what comes next.

All of which is my feeble way of telling you that I have enjoyed your friendship, enjoyed having contact with you and learning from you—and that, whatever you do I want to tag along with you in any way I can.

Blessings on you, Bill Rapp!

Affectionately,

BILL STIDGER.

And so I say, in closing, remembering also my own personal friendship with Bill Rapp, and my admiration of him for many years—William Jourdan Rapp was a good man.