A World Diminished

The World was lessened substantially this week when scholar and Emory University Law Professor Harold J. Berman passed away in New York City. Professor Berman was a leading thinker in so many important fields, including Law and Religion, Russian Law, Chinese Law, his beloved World Law, ethics, history, culture. He was a true Renaissance Man, except that he did not just dabble in anything. He was excellent in everything he pursued. His many writings and their popularity go a long way to make that case.

But much more than what he wrote, for me, was his boundless personal energy and his pure desire to see his students fly. He was a teacher in every way. He carefully planned his lectures and his informal seminars so they were designed to bring out the best in the participants. He never retreated from difficult subjects that might have put off his audience. Instead he plowed forward until the students had become better people. He welcomed odd or left-field thinking, especially if it shed light on his topics that he had not seen before. And he profoundly respected those with whom he worked. He was far and away the single greatest influence on my education, having taught me central things about the world that I had missed throughout my youth and the plentiful opportunities in my liberal and earlier legal education.

I had not seen Professor Berman for a number of years. The last time was at his home on Martha's Vineyard. We joined a family dinner there, and the discussion was as expansive and enticing as his classes had been. The conversation was disciplined and challenging, and ultimately enlightening. All that at a picnic table over grilled steaks and apple pie. I will always treasure that memory. In this world cluttered with unimportant junk, mis-information, and lazy analysis, I will miss you dearly Hal.