It concerns Lafcadio Hearn: a writer who spent his childhood in Ireland, although he also had multiple other layers of identity, thanks to a Greek mother, British citizenship, many years in the US, and a final home in Japan. These and other annoyances provoked him to write a letter home telling Harper’s where they could stick their assignment. Perhaps the episode in Yokohama could also be diagnosed as a Lafcadio Hernia: an acute outbreak of bad language that led to a chronic career rupture. It was clear he was doing his best.”Maybe the parrot was Irish. Speaking of which, when Lafcadio Hearn wrote his letter from Yokohama, according to the biography, he was staying in a hotel called Carey’s, an American-owned establishment “frequented by sailors”.

Source: The Irish Times May 28, 2021 18:01 UTC