I have lost something, something terribly important, something I know I will never replace and something I fear I will never be able find again. I have lost my hero, my mentor and the one man, besides my father, who I have ever looked up to.
Gone is the walking image of what I have always hoped to become, gone is a living legend and gone is somebody I hoped to one day call my friend.
How can I describe my hero? Is it possible to sum up such a man in mere words, to sum up somebody who has changed the lives of so many in only a few paragraphs? Of course it is not, but I feel I would be doing the world an injustice if I did not try.
David Lawyer changed my life. He was not only my professor but my role model, my reason for wanting to be a professor. Mr. Lawyer could hold the attention of a room full of students with only the rapid movements of his hands and the large smile that always lay across his face.
He would erase the fear and nervousness of the first day of school by nonchalantly walking into class (with his trade mark side to side strut) and throwing his books upon the table; then as the class stared, half frightened and half surprised, he would let out one of his bellowing laughs and every student would release a collective sigh of relief.
When you had one of David Lawyer’s classes, you were always excited to go. His enthusiasm for what he taught and for life in general was infectious. On a normal day Mr. Lawyer would crack a joke to make everyone smile and explain the lesson with a vocabulary that mixed inelegancies and the guy on the street; which challenged your mind to jump for new heights and cushioned the landing if you fell. He taught a lesson that a Harvard professor could benefit from and that a coal miner could understand. David Lawyer was the perfect professor, that and so much more.
He played basketball at Princeton when black athletes were unheard of, facing, and rising above, more adversity then any of us will ever come to know. Once he told me of tournament in the SEC (South Easter Conference), during which, to his unknowing surprise, his teammates were ordered to never let him out of their sight for fear of his life; but in his classic fashion he was so focused on his goal, of winning the games, to even notice the danger.
More than a basketball player, or even a great professor, to me David Lawyer was an inspiration. An example of how life can be met head on, conquered and enjoyed. He exemplified the finer parts of life and spread the joy of knowledge to all his students, leaving each one of them better then when they met.
Having David Lawyer as my professor opened my eyes to the man I could become, and losing my hero shows me how far I have to go; but the lessons I have taken from him give me the strength to carry on.