Tony Judt just died. The left has lost one of its best voices and I feel as if I've lost a close personal friend. The Times has given him a respectful obit; yet one that is wrong in one crucial way: The Times describes Tony as a polemical writer, and that is one thing Tony never was. While he never avoided controversy and often took positions that made him unpopular, his tone was never sharp nor his manner anything less than respectful to all. This was precisely his greatest gift. It was this absence of animus and acrimony that made made his writing so oddly healing As well is witty, balanced and remarkably penetrating. He deserves to be ranked with Havel and Said as one of the few great intellectuals of our time.