Saying Goodbye to David Lerman and Sending Love to Gay Cox and Jim Tarvid
It has been a hard week. I guess when your flock gets big enough, it is bound to happen. We lose people we love, bad things happen to good people.
Jim Tarvid
Jim Tarvid is the tough curmudgeon with a soft heart who taught me Drupal and was the knight in shining armor who saved the day when I was almost ready to abandon ever getting up a website. Jim was airlifted from his rural Virginia home to Fairfax for open heart surgery this week. He and his wife, Barbara, are in my prayers.
David Lerman
This week, David Lerman died after a valiant fight with cancer. It is easy to find passionate advocates for restorative justice, but rare to find them in a prosecutor's office. For years, David was my go-to person who could talk to other prosecutors with deep experience, authority, and compassion. His school program in Milwaukee was another resource I pointed to. David and I swapped emails, sometimes visited face-to-face or by phone. David shared his writing with me. He let us interview him for Cutting Edge Law in 2008. You can get to know some of David in that interview:
http://cuttingedgelaw.com/video/david-lerman-prosecutor-restorative-justice-pioneer
And learn more about his last days and illness and the inspiring way he approached it on the Caring Bridge site at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidlerman
I loved David and I will miss him, not only as a professional collea
Gay Cox
Gay is a pioneer and workhorse in this movement. She is one of those women who gets things done that you couldn't imagine were even possible. For example, she got together a task force in Dallas to help parents who have lost their children due to abuse and neglect. Gay knows that children do best with their own parents, when those parents are functional. She wanted an early intervention that helped parents learn to work with the system and have their children returned, safe and healthy. She brought people to the table who were usually adversaries and she made it happen.
If you want to know more about Gay or just to hang out with her in the virtual world, check out this video: http://cuttingedgelaw.com/
A week or so ago, Gay was in a terrible accident and is not doing well. I lifted and slightly edited two entries from the Caring Bridge site and you can get more updates and read the in-between posts at: http://www.caringbridge.
The Original Story:
Sometimes the wonderful world of nature can be terrible. Gay, Zac (&Zac's finance Ana) and I just got back from a wonderful trip to the woods – 8 days on horseback in the Pecos wilderness (above Santa Fe) – wonderful time for us all…….AS many of you are aware, Gay loves the outdoors, walks, and discovery. She has particularly embraced her role as 'rancher-woman' (her term) as her professional life slowed over the past year.
Then -
October 10, Wednesday morning, Gay was driving on a country road in deep Leon County Texas – guiding a forester to look at trees on her family’s property. A dead tree fell and crushed her / her pickup….. happened for no good reason.. happened without any provocation / weather– simply wrong place / and perfectly wrong time – on a county road (not on her property) and clobbered her while driving.
Luckily the forester was following her and, along with others who quickly responded, called for help…… she suffered multiple injuries to her head / face /others…. Most critical obviously is her head……. She was evacuated to East Texas Medical Center (a level 1 trauma center) in Tyler Texas (about 80 miles from Dallas) AND remains in critical condition.
Written 14 hours ago by John Cox
All
Many, many thanks for the prayer, and steadfast words of encouragement. Very evident are the many good, kind and loving words and thoughts.
Gay's status remains the same - if not slightly worse. Interval imaging has shown that the surgery Tuesday did accomplish the goal of providing more 'space' for her swollen brain… unfortunately the swelling & damage involves several areas of the brain - including the brain stem (supports the 'automatic' & key processes of the body). Though we maintain hope of some recovery, there is also recognition that the longer the status quo persists the more difficult it is for her.
Keep Gay - her mom, her sister and niece - Zac & I in your prayers……. Please hug your families today. [posted by John Cox]
***
Take care of you and your loved ones. A big hug to each and every one of you.
Love,
Kim
PS: I'm working on writing more about my South Africa trip - if you aren't already on my Facebook page, like Cutting Edge Law or send me a friend request. I posted short reports there. It was nothing short of miraculous.
I'm in remote New Mexico now and I will be here for the rest of the month. I'm speaking at Phoenix Law on November 2, headed to Albuquerque, Dallas, New Orleans, and points in Florida. I plan to spend the holidays in Florida and then return to Phoenix to teach for the Spring semester. Denver is on my radar for the summer semester.
The international movement seems to have gained momentum. My trips to Canada, Australia and South Africa were very rewarding. I'm now working with some Europeans in the movement to catalyze a community there. If you are European, let me know. I plan to get to Europe in early 2013.
