From that first evening emerged a deep and ever-changing friendship, through countless dinners and weekends, weddings and bar and bat mitzvah's and yes, funerals. We chewed over and debated endlessly the merits and black holes of law practice,  the Red Sox and Yankees and my long hopeless ( but not any more) Cleveland Indians, the logic and folly of the American left, the right way to raise our kids.  I miss him all the time - last night Perry and I went to a preview of  "Steal This Movie", on Abbie Hoffman's life, and I would give anything to be able to dissect it with Gary. 

     I spent the afternoon with Gary in Jamaica Plain on the last Sunday in March, and he talked about Douglas and Courtney, David's new school, his plans for his spring classes and the house he and Jeanne were building on the 
Cape, all the while keeping an eye on the NCAA turnament game on the kitchen TV.   I told him about my new career move, taking on a coaching position.  While acknowedging my love for track and field, he raised tough issues, questioning my motivation and the clarity of my planning.   When I think now about how Gary regarded me, I sense a common thread in my own memory and others I have read on this website - Gary always accepted me for who I was, yet never stopped challenging me to be better at it.  I would guess he did that for all of us, another aspect of his particular genius.