456 Jacques Derrida 1984–2004
years, he travelled less, preferring to save time so he could work
in peace and quiet.^20David Carroll and his wife Suzanne Gearhart found Derrida a
little house to rent, fi rst in Laguna Beach, then at Victoria Beach,
somewhat more off the beaten track. Derrida particularly enjoyed
living by the sea for a few weeks, even though he could only occa-
sionally go for a swim – the sea is pretty cold in spring on the Pacifi c
Coast. Although he worked extremely hard, the pace of life was
less exhausting than the rest of the year. He liked to stroll along the
beach, observing the many local birds, and having dinner or seeing
a fi lm with his translator and close friend Peggy Kamuf.
Murray Krieger, who brought Derrida to Irvine at the same time as
Hillis Miller, was one of the founders of the university, and a true
innovator. In 1990, he suggested that Derrida entrust his personal
archives to Langson Library, the main one in the university. Derrida
was very touched: this was the fi rst time anyone had shown any
interest in his personal papers. The fi rst agreement, making a gift to
the Critical Theory Archive, was signed on 23 June 1990. ‘It was all
generous and quite informal,’ says Peggy Kamuf.
But right from the start, the university should have suggested
that Derrida get help from a lawyer and draw up a more
legal document; this would have helped avoid a great number
of problems. What was always very clear was that Irvine
would have no right to publish any of the material deposited.
Consultation of the archives by scholars was completely free,
but photocopies and quotation of extracts were subject to
Derrida’s personal approval. The reason why he didn’t want to
deposit his correspondence at Irvine was the diff erence between
European law and American law: in the United States, the
addressee is the only proprietor of the letter received, which put
him in an awkward position vis-à-vis all those who had written
to him.^21Given the huge number of manuscripts and documents of every
nature preserved by Derrida, the concrete labour involved in
selecting and copying them was, right from the start, considerable.
Thomas Dutoit, one of Derrida’s fi rst Irvine students, had married
a French woman and was at the time living in Germany. When he
learned that the archives had been gifted to Irvine, he immediately
off ered his services. Between 1991 and 1998, he spent long periods
in Ris-Orangis, classifying and photocopying papers. Most of the
archives were quite carefully arranged – material for teaching was
all gathered together, manuscripts and proofs assembled book