CLASS NOTES: BACK TO THE GARDEN

Front, left to right: Enikő Samu TŌN ’25, Eszter Pokai ’25, Gabriella Sperry, Olivia Cariño, Rea Ábel ’23, Nándor Burai ’24, Gréta Varga ’26 Back, left to right: Viktor Tóth ’16 TŌN ’21, David Keringer APS ’24, Peter Antal, Visiting Associate Professor of Music Peter Laki, David Nagy ’13, photo by Karl Rabe

Imagination defined the remarkable life of László Z. Bitó ’60, who died November 14, 2021 (see Bardian, Fall 2021). Imagination helped him endure forced labor as a teenager in the inferno of a coal mine in Hungary, where he wrote stories and hid them underground. Imagination led him to take a radical approach in his ophthalmology lab at Columbia University, enabling the development of a drug that slows the progression of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. And after retiring from science at 63, Bitó fully engaged his literary imagination, writing more than 20 books, including six biblical novels. In 2016, he explained his approach to reimagining those defining texts: “These stories are very deep in our subconscious. At the time they were written, the main thing was to present a ruthless God whom everyone was afraid of. The world is different now; it’s time to look at the Bible differently.” (See Bardian, Fall 2016.)

In Eden Revisited, the second of his books to be translated into English, Bitó reimagined the saga of the Bible's first family. In his telling, the forbidden fruit has hallucinogenic properties; sexual jealousy incites Abel to violence against his father, Adam; Abel’s brother, Cain, intervenes in the patricide, but the result is fratricide; and the hero of the story—and the great cause for hope for the future—is wise, courageous, passionate Eve.

The English edition of Eden Revisited, which was published by Natus Books in October 2022, was translated by Amy Módly and edited by Bitó’s old friend John Solomon ’58. A launch event was held at Bard during Family and Alumni/ae Weekend. The book is the inspiration for a series of seven on-campus discussions with scholars in the field of biblical studies about the Eden story, moderated by Bruce Chilton ’71, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and director of Bard’s Institute of Advanced Theology. “In Search of the Once and Future Eden” kicked off on December 1 with an investigation of Adam and his “squandering of power.” The Thursday evening series continues through March 16.