From the summary: Hoover also provided the senator an essay on his reminiscences of Joseph Kennedy for a posthumous anthology of reflections on the senator’s then-late father.
Is Joseph Kennedy no longer "late"? I know the Kennedy's are a powerful clan, but I had no idea they had figured out reanimation.
To write "[his] late father Joseph Kennedy" would only tell us, the readers, that Joe Kennedy is dead today; to refer to him as "[his] then-late father" tells us, the readers, that Joe Kennedy is not only dead today, he was already dead back then.
When speaking in the past tense, "then-late" emphasizes that the person had already passed on at the time in question.
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"Then-late" father?
From the summary: Hoover also provided the senator an essay on his reminiscences of Joseph Kennedy for a posthumous anthology of reflections on the senator’s then-late father.
Is Joseph Kennedy no longer "late"? I know the Kennedy's are a powerful clan, but I had no idea they had figured out reanimation.
it's a tense subject
To write "[his] late father Joseph Kennedy" would only tell us, the readers, that Joe Kennedy is dead today; to refer to him as "[his] then-late father" tells us, the readers, that Joe Kennedy is not only dead today, he was already dead back then.
When speaking in the past tense, "then-late" emphasizes that the person had already passed on at the time in question.