In the locker room after the game, I had a chance to ask Bobby Hurley a question. Bobby Hurley was Duke's starting point guard, a position I also played (poorly) and Hurley was the player I admired more than anyone. Nervous and sweating in my bar mitzvah suit, I rattled off my question and he gave me a quizzical look. He stared away and said "I don't understand what you mean" and walked off.
I was crestfallen, though I'd learned a valuable lesson: knowing a man for his public persona doesn't mean you actually know him as a person. More importantly, I learned that when you come to find out the person he really is you may be disappointed.
Edward Tufte had reached that same level of admiration in my eyes. Not only had this man single-handedly made the use of the infographic a mainstream tool, his writing cobbled together lessons from disciplines and sources that spanned centuries of knowledge and condensed them in a way to make the world a clearer and more logical place.
So when I came across something in his book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information that gave me pause, I was excited about the opportunity to engage him in a clear, intelligent way so I could learn more about the field of User Experience.
Since I first started studying UX, I was overwhelmed by how accessible the brilliant minds of the industry were to the average person. Ken Schwaber (signatory to the Agile Manifesto), Louis Rosenfeld (the IA genius, and co-author of the 'Polar Bear Book,' required reading in the field), and even Don Norman (author of the seminal work 'The Design of Everyday Things') had personally entertained and replied to my questions, even though I was just beginning to learn about the field.
My issue with Tufte began with a questionable citation. As a journalist, I believe overt, clear citation is an indication of transparency. When a source becomes vague about the basis for his or her information, it brings his or her credibility into question. My specific question to Tufte was the following:
On page 95 [of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information] reference is made to a re-drawn graphic comparing predicted registration rates to actual registration rates. The text reads "Another published version of the same data drove the share of data-ink to about 0.7, an improvement." However, this lauded improvement leaves out an important caveat - it is your work.
While, of course, it is the responsibility of the diligent reader to check the sourcing on all information he/she receives, it struck me as a bit disingenuous to leave out how self-congratulatory this text actually is. It struck a sour chord, especially when including a reference in the text itself that it is the work of the author would have done nothing to diminish the point.
A second instance of a similar type assuaged any concerns that this was being done by an author who could find no flaws with his own work. In the same book, on page 184, a design titled "The Relationship Between Seats and Votes in Two-Party systems" is described as "heavy-handed, with nearly every element out of balance." This work is also that of the author, though only the reader of the citation for the graphic would have noticed this.
In "Beautiful Evidence," on page 142, you rail against the evasion of responsibility by presenters and authors. I feel these examples, while TECHNICALLY giving attribution require more blatant note that the exemplars used are those of the author, in the name of genuine transparency.
I understand that the standards for academia and the standards for journalism are different, and while certainly not an attack of the incredible work Mr. Tufte has accomplished, I thought I had a genuine question that deserved an answer -- or at least some debate, acknowledgement or correction of my ignorance.
Sadly, Mr. Tufte felt none of that was required. I initially tried to find a way to contact Mr. Tufte directly, but could not find a way to do so (despite having spent several hundred dollars on his books and seminar in Atlanta). I submitted my question to his closely curated forum, but the moderators did not deem my question worth posting. I emailed his assistant, and still weeks later have not received a reply. I even, in a last ditch effort, posted a tweet asking how I could reach out to address the issue, but that too was ignored.

Despite that admiration, this experience reminds me of being that kid in the Blue Devils' locker room in Durham, North Carolina.
For a high school graduation gift, my brother got me front row seats to see my hero, comedian George Carlin, record his HBO special at the Beacon Theater. After the show, I waited outside to meet George, and when he came out I blurted out that he was my idol.
"You need to be careful who you make your idols out to be, kid"
George was right.
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