I've been spending time sorting through an accumulation of materials collected over fifty five years of law practice on all kinds of subjects. Many end up in the recycle, but some still make me smile or make me think. This is an unorganized group for your review. Maybe there is something here for you. The popular radio program of its day, Amos and Andy, had a character: "lawyer Calhoon" who was always giving advice. His client, about to be led…
The conventional wisdom is to never discuss politics or religion with others in order to avoid controversy and argument. However, I’ve recently read views on religion that bear reflection and examination. I’d like to start with William Barclay who, before his death, was a professor of Divinity at Glasgow University and a very prolific writer of religious books and Biblical commentaries. He published a Spiritual Autobiography in which he said “I am a convinced universalist.” He quoted Origon who believed…
There was a recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled "the Pope's case for virtuous capitalism." In it Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was critical of the media for what he said was giving the wrong impression of the Popes position on capitalism. He claimed that the principal focus of Pope France's economic teaching was that social activity must be based on the virtues of compassion and generosity. The cardinal claimed that: "all people, including the poor,…
There has been so much media reporting about immigrants recently it has reminded me of how blessed and privileged I am to have been the child of immigrants. Mother's family immigrated from what was Hungry-Austria, now Croatia, and the tiny island of Brac all the way to Anacortes, Washington. Dad, his parents and his siblings all immigrated from the poor area of Calabria- down in the toe of the boot of Italy ending up in Anacortes where they eventually met…
On an early Friday morning, July 7th2000, my mother Mary Thelma Babarovich, died in her sleep at the San Juan Care Center. Her death was not unexpected. After all, she was born on December 28, 1905 and was ninety four years old when she died. She had been in failing health for some time. Her passing was, in fact, a personal blessing to her as she had been ready to meet her maker for some time. I've published an account…
My grandfather, Nicola Luvera died in Anacortes on Independence Day, July 4, 1956 after living more then ninety years. My chief regret is that he spoke no English and I spoke no Italian so we never had a real conversation – only through my father's interpretation. Dad believed his children should learn and speak English because we were Americans. In addition, mother's families native language was Croatian since they had immigrated from the Island of Brac in Croatia. My grandfather's…
My friend of many years Daniel Sullivan died of lung cancer the morning of July 1, 2012 in Seattle. He was 86 years old. Dan was a plaintiff's trial lawyer. He was the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association president in 1974-75, WSTLA Trial Lawyer of the Year winner in 1984 andrecipient of the then-WSTLA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Dan was my mentor and my friend.It was Dan I turned to for professional help. We associated on many cases and worked together many times. We enjoyed each others…
Have you thought about how your old ways of thinking and acting can take over your life and without knowing it, you are controlled by your deep seated attitudes and habits? Too often, it seems to me, we don't take the time to stop and reflect on who we are and the lives of doing the same thing in the same way when it would be healthy to change. One of my favorite illustrations of this is in a book Herbert…
The concept of "conscious evolution" generally holds that mankind is transforming through the integration of science, spirituality and technology. A famous French Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a paleontologist and geologist who was involved in the discovery of the "Peking Man," a Chinese skull believed to be evidence of the evolution of man. De Chardin was a man of science who became a philosopher in looking for the compatibility between science and religion. As he studied the…
Many of us are familiar with the story about the elderly Cherokee who tells his grandson a story about the inner conflict of people. It is a powerful illustration of a truth about our human nature. It goes like this: one evening, an elderlyCherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. he said "my son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all. one is evil. it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,…
