Editing Noam Chomsky (section)

==Personal life==

[[File:Wasserman and Chomsky, 2014 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Wasserman and Chomsky in 2014]]

Chomsky endeavors to separate his family life, linguistic scholarship, and political activism from each other.{{sfnm|1a1=Barsky|1y=1997|1p=158|2a1=Sperlich|2y=2006|2p=19}}<!--"scrupulous"{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=121}}{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=78}}--> An intensely private person,{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=7}} he is uninterested in appearances and the fame his work has brought him.{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=116}} McGilvray suggests that Chomsky is not motivated by a desire for fame, but impelled to tell what he perceives as the truth and a desire to aid others in doing so.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=230}} Chomsky acknowledges that his income affords him a privileged life compared to the majority of the world's population;{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=9}} nevertheless, he characterizes himself as a "worker", albeit one who uses his intellect as his employable skill.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=6}} He reads four or five newspapers daily; in the U.S., he subscribes to ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Financial Times]]'', and ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''.{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=121}} Chomsky is not religious but has expressed approval of forms of religion such as [[liberation theology]].{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=69}}

Chomsky is known to use charged language ("corrupt", "fascist", "fraudulent") when describing established political and academic figures, which can polarize his audience but is in keeping with his belief that much scholarship is self-serving.{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=199}} His colleague [[Steven Pinker]] has said that Chomsky "portrays people who disagree with him as stupid or evil, using withering scorn in his rhetoric", and that this contributes to the extreme reactions he receives.{{sfn|Jaggi|2001}} Chomsky avoids [[academic conferences]], including left-oriented ones such as the Socialist Scholars Conference, preferring to speak to activist groups or hold university seminars for mass audiences.{{sfn|Barsky|1997|p=169}} His approach to academic freedom has led him to support MIT academics whose actions he deplores; in 1969, when Chomsky heard that [[Walt Rostow]], a major architect of the Vietnam war, wanted to return to work at MIT, Chomsky threatened "to protest publicly" if Rostow were denied a position at MIT. In 1989, when Pentagon adviser [[John Deutch]] applied to be president of MIT, Chomsky supported his candidacy. Later, when Deutch became head of the CIA, ''The New York Times'' quoted Chomsky as saying, "He has more honesty and integrity than anyone I've ever met.{{nbsp}}... If somebody's got to be running the CIA, I'm glad it's him."{{sfnm|Barsky|1997|1pp=140–141|Chomsky|1996|2pp=135–136|Weiner|1995}}

Chomsky was married to [[Carol Chomsky|Carol Doris]] ({{nee|Schatz}}) from 1949 until her death in 2008.{{sfn|McGilvray|2014|p=6}} They had three children together: [[Aviva Chomsky|Aviva]] (b. 1957), Diane (b. 1960), and Harry (b. 1967).{{sfn|Sperlich|2006|p=22}} In 2014, Chomsky married Valeria Wasserman.{{sfn|''Democracy Now!''|2015}} They have owned a home in Wasserman's native country, Brazil, since 2015.{{r|not dead}} [[Judith Chomsky]] and [[Marvin J. Chomsky]] are cousins of Noam Chomsky.

In 2023<!-- please read the sources before changing the date of Chomsky's stroke, which happened in 2023 and not 2024 -->, Chomsky suffered a massive stroke and was flown to a hospital in [[São Paulo]], Brazil, to recuperate.{{r|hospitalized}} He can no longer walk or communicate, making his return to public life improbable,<ref>{{cite news |first=Maira |last=Butt |title=Noam Chomsky, 95, 'no longer able to talk' after famed intellectual suffered 'medical event' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/noam-chomsky-health-update-tributes-b2559831.html |access-date=June 11, 2024 |work=The Independent |date=June 10, 2024}}</ref> but he continues to follow current events such as the [[Gaza war]].<ref name=hospitalized>{{cite news|title=Linguist and activist Noam Chomsky hospitalized in his wife's native country of Brazil after stroke |url=https://apnews.com/article/noam-chomsky-hospitalized-stroke-recovery-brazil-4fb6782abf6a7b6d0bbb30cefa05cede |access-date=June 11, 2024 |work=AP News |date=June 11, 2024}}</ref> He was discharged in June 2024 to continue his recovery at home.{{r|not dead}} The same month, Chomsky [[trended on social media]] amid false reports of his death. Periodicals retracted [[List of prematurely reported obituaries|premature obituaries]].<ref name="not dead">{{cite news |last=Italie |first=Hillel |title=Noam Chomsky's wife says reports of famed linguist's death are false |date=June 18, 2024 |work=[[AP News]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/noam-chomsky-alive-not-dead-5b7a1b23b8731ca311e1ec38cdc3c119 }}</ref>