I’ve never been much for looking back, but the deaths of my dad and of Jack Grady last summer have made me a bit more respectful of the need to acknowledge the people who’ve been important in my life. Last Friday (April 3), I went back to LaSalle (a College when I was there, now a University) to attend a reception for the graduates of the political science department. The most important reason I went was to see Dr. Michael Dillon, who was one of, if not my most favorite teacher in college. I had him for Political Philosophy, Constitutional Law, and a terrific seminar called Theories of Democracy and Civil Disobedience, which really fired up my young imagination. I had looked for Dr. Dillon’s name on the faculty roster at LaSalle from time to time, and was astonished by never being able to find it. And yet, to my surprise, when the invitation came, it showed that not only was he on the faculty, but he was chairman of the department. Well, as it turned out, he had left LaSalle and become an attorney, and spent 20 years or so as an environmental litigator. When his wife died, he began looking for something more slowly-paced, and on a lark, responded to an ad for department chair. And he got the job, which was a smart move on La Salle’s part. His ambition is to instill a sense of excitement to the department. I wish him lots of success.
One very pleasant surprise was meeting Nora Barry, who is one of my fellow bloggers on the True/Slant site, where she is writing a lot about women and politics. Nora was a few years behind me, but she was friends with my friend and onetime housemate Francis Nathans, who is married to Sallyanne Harper, who was also a good friend and is now a big cheese at the GAO. Nora is friendly with Sally’s sister Kate, who is a state legislator in Pennsylvania (and who, if I remember correctly, dated Tim O’Toole, my roommate and London host.)