The Longbow Papers

Another modern American giant has fallen; and I have lost another dear friend. It's been a bad few weeks in that regard. I got to know Johnnie Cochran pretty well during the 14 months or so that we were in court in the criminal trial of O. J. Simpson; that's to be expected when you spend that much time in a relatively small room with the same group of people, day after day, and do it under enormous pressure from without and within. We interacted on a personal level every day of the week, and sometimes we spoke by telephone on weekends during those long months then known in America as "The Trial of the Century."

But it wasn't until after the criminal trial that we really became friends, very good friends. While Johnnie Cochran was the single best trial lawyer I ever saw work in my career, it is the non-public Johnnie Cochran that I will remember the longest and miss the most. There are so many "little" stories of the non-public Johnnie Cochran I came to know, respect, love and admire beyond measure that best illustrate his greatness. Most of them will remain private, however, because he would've wished them to. But there are some I know he would like me to tell, and I will, but not today.

It's been a bad month, and even though two magazine article deadlines had to be met during it--writing is a business--and my teaching had to continue on, words were still like big craggy rocks to me. And then it just got worse. Who will we lose next?

 

6:10 PM / Editor / permalink    0 comments

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