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June 12, 2004

Late Thoughts on the Late Greats

I have little doubt that Reagan's death is a tragic and significant event for those who knew him personally. To me, though, the outpouring of intense emotion over the last week is awkward. I'm not disputing the man's significance or greatness, only the significance of his death; his death, not his life. He last appeared in public some seven or eight years ago. He may well have a left behind a legacy that affects our daily lives, but it is just that -- a legacy. To the extent that the loss we feel at his absence is profound, it is also profoundly out of date.

I say all of this because in the last two weeks, America lost two other geniuses, both of whom were still actively contributing to many people's lives until very recently and whose passing has been overshadowed by Reagan's. I'm thinking of Sam Dash and Ray Charles, legends in their own -- entirely different -- rights.

Sam Dash, a professor of criminal law and legal ethics, died a week before Reagan. His career was nothing short of astounding, including working on both the Watergate and Whitewater investigations, serving as the Distrcit Attorney of Philadelphia, and participating in the International League of Human Rights. He taught with incredible clarity and wit, providing the perfect balance of black-letter law, policy, and war stories. Dash was the only professor I have ever witnessed receive a standing ovation for a lecture in the middle of a semester. He literally wrote the book on electronic surveillance law and, in our criminal procedure course, he took a full class session to describe its evolution. It was spellbinding.

We'd known for some time that he was sick, but not the extent of his illness. My class was the last course he was able to complete, athough he began courses in the fall and spring this year. I feel incredibly privileged that I had that opportunity.

Ray Charles you are more likely to be familiar with, particularly if you are not a law student. To say Charles was a singer would be an understatement. Although I don't own his albums or know his music incredibly well, I recognize his stature. He was near-ubiquitous, appearing in all aspects of pop culture and influencing musicians in all genres.

I'm just old enough to have lived through the entirety of Reagan's time in office and to remember the bulk of it, but young enough not to really understand most of it. It's partly a failure of our school system -- that our "history" classes stop after WW II as if the book was simply too long already, or cram the last 50-60 years into one lesson on "current events" or "modern history" or something. It's also partly that the effect of a presidency can't really be determined for some time. I have little doubt that Reagan was significant in ways I don't fully appreciate. But as he himself said, he began his journey into the sunset 10 years ago. He left us more then than he did last week. Sam Dash and Ray Charles both left realtively suddenly. Both were sick, but neither had taken leave yet. I'm not criticizing those who mourn Reagan; I'm just putting my thoughts on others at the moment.

Posted by buddha at June 12, 2004 10:24 PM

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