November 16, 2023
It is no secret that having a mentor is vital to success. Eileen Hennessy was one my most revered mentors whom I first met at New York University School of Professional Studies where I was enrolled in the mid-to-late ‘90s in the Certificate in Translation Program. Eileen taught me French (to English) Legal Translation I and II, both of which I aced. Eileen was very likeable because she genuinely liked people. You never saw her anxious, upset or flustered at any time, regardless of the circumstances, and it was obvious that she was passionate about translation, even though she was a quiet person.
When Eileen shared her contact information with my class, I never for a moment expected her to take phone calls, far less interact to the extent to which she helped me. Even though she would leave big shoes to walk in, we had in common a passion for translation of legal, business and historic content. A phone call with Eileen was a joy. After a few rings, her one-word greeting, “Translation,” was like a sweet-sounding symphony, which would always bring a smile to my face. No matter how busy she was, she would always inquire about how my translation practice was going and she would happily take the time to discuss a term or two (or three).
At first, I only asked about French terms, but one day, I happened to mention that I was struggling with a Spanish term and without missing a beat, she said, “Let me see what I can find in this Spanish dictionary.” My misconception that Eileen only translated from French into English was soon blown away. Because she was so unassuming, I figured the dictionary belonged to some coworker of hers. It did not dawn on me that Spanish was also one of her working languages. It would take some time for me to discover that she was ATA certified in French-to-English, German-to-English, Italian-to-English, Portuguese-to-English, and Spanish-to-English translation and also translated from Dutch into English. I later learned en passant that she was also a published poet and short story author.
Eileen taught her students to recognize when it was safer to translate a legal term literally, or to coin her words, render a “wishy washy” translation of a term that had no equivalent in English. I remember a particular day on which I was translating a certificate from the Madrid Bar Association from Spanish into English. The client who was a member wanted it mentioned that he had been called to the bar when this was not found in the source document. Eileen and I went back and forth and finally agreed that not including any information about that particular event was the safest solution. It didn’t matter that it was not her assignment. In retrospect, I realize that my calls were like work breaks for her.
If I called Eileen and she did not pick up, she would return my call within a day or two, explaining that she had either been out of office or seriously deluged with work. I had made one such call and subsequently had gotten so caught up in my own schedule, that I did not notice that she had not called back within the usual period of time. A few weeks later, I would read in the Gotham Translator that she had passed away. I sat and cried my eyes out. Losing Eileen was a profoundly sad event.
Eileen is never far from my thoughts, especially when I stumble upon complex terminology in my daily work. For her, no question was a stupid one. She always saw the merit in discussion and collaboration. Although her portfolio was most impressive, she never berated another translator’s work. Rather, she established a rule in class that a word or phrase in a sentence should stand unless a more appropriate rendition was offered. To that day, I embrace that rule when working with others. She also helped me to gently release my attachment to British English, my native language, and embrace the ever evolving American English.
Eileen will never be forgotten. I am grateful for the influence she had in my life. She lives on in her short stories and poems that have been published in numerous literary magazines since 1982. This Country of Gale-force Winds, a book of poems, was published by NYQ Books in 2011.
Interesting links: https://gothamtranslator.org/eileen-hennessy-a-personal-encounter-of-the-favorable-kind-1937-march-17-2018/
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