The New York Times reports the death of Robert Fagles, translator of the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid.

The AATIA will soon cease to publish its newsletter and move all communication to an electronic environment.

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A new cartoon by Tony Beckwith illustrates an article by Fabiano Cid, "The Best Breed of Project Managers: How to make the most of your feline or canine features when managing a project," in GALAxy, the newsletter of the Globalization and Localization Association.

Some may think of cats as smart and superior beings, while others consider them self-centered and unreliable. The same occurs with dogs: they may look stupid and subservient to cat lovers, but cynophiles consider them loyal, sociable and dependable. Project managers can also have either characteristic when performing their daily work. The trick is to balance your feline and canine qualities to make sure the most important goal is achieved: client satisfaction and retention.

Michael Blumenthal will speak at the American Translators Association Spanish Language Division Conference, which will be held March 28-30 in Philadelphia. The abstract of his bilingual presentation, titled “The Pancreas: Function and Dysfunction,” follows:

Homeostasis, the dynamic balance of neurological and chemical processes in the human body, is maintained by constant feedback and regulation involving the brain, nervous tissues, and a great number of glands and organs. One important and essential organ that helps maintain homeostasis that many translators and interpreters do not know much about is the pancreas. Pathological conditions of the pancreas can be chronic or acutely life threatening. The goals of this workshop include: identify the pancreatic anatomical structures with which medical translators and interpreters must be familiar; discuss function and dysfunction of the pancreas including pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, and diabetes; become familiar with the most common diagnostic and laboratory tests; and provide a useful Spanish<>English glossary of terms.

& Noah Nordskog" href="http://aatia.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/julienoahnordskog.jpg">& Noah Nordskog" src="http://aatia.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/julienoahnordskog.thumbnail.jpg" />AATIA Secretary Julie Nordskog and her son Noah were featured in the CBS 42 news cover story, “Volunteering as a Family Project,” broadcast on February 18. The video clip and text of the story are now available on the KEYE TV website.

Project Gutenberg makes available to the public many titles in many languages. They are available to be downloaded for free since their copyright is no longer valid. AATIA members Hank Phillips and Thelma Sabim are among the many volunteers for the project, he as a reviewer and she as a Portuguese-language proofreader.

At the time of this post, more than 12,400 books have been processed by volunteers and are now available, more than 1600 are undergoing final checks before being assembled into completed e-books, and another 1000 or so are currently being proofread through the site. However, there are many more titles waiting to be proofed. The volunteer can proof just one page, or one page per day, or the whole book. Other ways to participate in this non-profit project include procuring eligible paper books, burning CDs and DVDs for people who don’t have Internet access, and making monetary donations.

Visit the website to find a book to read or to contribute your time to the project.

Esther Diaz will speak on Demystifying Cardiovascular Terminology at a medical seminar in Houston on February 23–24, 2008, sponsored by the American Translators Association and its regional affiliate, the Houston Interpreters and Translators Association (HITA). This professional development event targets experienced translators and interpreters who are seeking advanced-level continuing education:

• Overcome the unique challenges when translating for the healthcare consumer
• Learn to use the appropriate register, protect patient rights, and follow government regulations
• Effectively translate examination notes, prescriptions, autopsy reports, and other medical records
• Understand cardiovascular procedures to achieve an accurate translation

An ATA certification exam sitting will be offered on Sunday, February 24. Separate registration is required for the exam. ATA-certified translators can earn 9 Continuing Education Points for attending both days of this seminar.

At the meeting on Saturday (Jan 5), during the announcements, I announced the passing of our colleague and friend, Leslie Willson. I quoted from Mike Conner’s earlier posting and to some extent from the obituary in the paper, which gave a few insights into Leslie’s life.

His story reminds us of the myriad ways in which translators find their languages and their destiny: World War II interrupted Leslie’s plans for a writing career and he left the University of Texas to join the army, where he discovered he had a gift for German, in which he soon became fluent. He was later assigned to a top secret operation known only by its mailing address “P. O. Box 1142” where he and others used their language skills to great effect in the war effort.

That sounds like a blurb for a great movie, one of those black-&-white ones with steely-jawed men in fedoras and women who always used a really long cigarette holder, dahling! In his photo, Leslie looks as though he starred in his own movie – which sounds like one definition of a happy life.

When I finished reading about him, I asked the old question: Where do old translators go? And it occurred to me that old translators never die because they live on in their works. Not just in literary translations of books and poems, but in the countless documents of all kinds that translators work on day to day. The manuals and labels and patents and contracts. The signs and forms and letters and birth certificates. The brochures and instructions and warnings and all the fine print that nobody ever reads.

All those words were one day invoked by a translator and thenceforth entered the canon of their time and space as the issue of their creators – as the fruit of their lives, the essence of their very own synthesis, an expression of their being. Translators make the world a little more understandable, which is an honorable occupation. Leslie Willson did, and we salute him for it.