beast of the east
Active member
Two of my personal heroes left us this week. The old line goes something like "Every boy needs a hero", and for me at least, they are vanishing quickly with no one apparently standing in the wings to replace them. It's sad.
Father Tom Hartman, the media savvy priest from Long Island, who together with Rabbi Marc Gelman starred in the vastly popular TV show, "The God Squad". The show began on the RVC diocese cable television station Telecare, but quickly was picked up by stations around the country. The show was in a discussion format, and focused on the common ground between people of faith and even of people without faith. The duo had a recurring guest role on both Good morning America and Imus in the morning, with Hartman playing the sensible straight man to Gelman's constant warm jokes. The two were best friends until Father Tom's last breath. The last dozen years or so were very difficult for Father Tom, as Parkinson's disease robbed him of the ability to speak much. He was as comfortable with CEOs of major corporations on the gold course as he was as a parish priest, the latter of where I got to know him.
When my kids were small we'd go to Sunday mass that Father Tom said at a neighboring parish. His masses were great, his homilies always right on target, and his warmth palpable. It was said that what he loved most was being a parish priest. I always felt a kinship with him, and only learned this week that he spent the first 9 years of his life in the same part of Queens I grew up in.
The last time I saw him, at a luncheon for the Long Island Association I believe, I chatted with him about another hero of mine who had passed, Father James Tugwood. He told me he knew him, and that this was a great loss of a great priest. I have a friend who worked with Father Tom on several annual fundraisers, and just loved the guy. He was as authentic as they come, and had a heart as big as the ocean. R.I.P, and may God's mercy be upon him.
The second hero passed with much more fanfare. Justice Antonin Scalia was one of those giants I had always hoped to meet. Monte would tell you that Scalia, native to this area, was perhaps the finest grduate of Xaiver HS in NYC, where both Monte and my son attended.
Scalia was as brilliant a mind as exists in America, graduating Xavier as their valedictorian, as tops in his class at Georgetown, and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He was a staunch defender of the Constitution, and would tell anyone who asked that it wasn't his role to interpret what its authors intended, but to interpret exactly what was written. He was a staunch opponent of legislating from the bench, and felt his personal opinions should not influence his decisions. As such he voted to protect the freedoms of protesters who burned the American flag as a right protected by the First Amendment.
Scalia wrote with much diligence even when authoring the minority opinion for the court, rationalizing that for future courts his opinions may influence their own interpretation of their responsibilities to uphold the Constitution in related decisions. Although viewed as a Conservative, and a authentically devout Catholic, his best friend on the court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, viewed as a liberal justice. Partisan divisiveness was not in his makeup, and he warmly regarded many people of different opinions and persuasions.
A few years ago, he spoke to high school students at Xavier high school. I only found out about it after the fact, or would have loved to attend. I would have listened and learned, and hope to engage him for a few minutes. Like most brilliant people, he had a reputation for being inquisitive, and rather than try to prove to people how brilliant he was, was sincerely interested in what they had to say.
Perhaps the accolades heaped upon his memory will be a spark to help heal a deeply divided nation. But for today, I'm simply sad, even as I reflect on the tiny piece of common ground we shared.
Father Tom Hartman, the media savvy priest from Long Island, who together with Rabbi Marc Gelman starred in the vastly popular TV show, "The God Squad". The show began on the RVC diocese cable television station Telecare, but quickly was picked up by stations around the country. The show was in a discussion format, and focused on the common ground between people of faith and even of people without faith. The duo had a recurring guest role on both Good morning America and Imus in the morning, with Hartman playing the sensible straight man to Gelman's constant warm jokes. The two were best friends until Father Tom's last breath. The last dozen years or so were very difficult for Father Tom, as Parkinson's disease robbed him of the ability to speak much. He was as comfortable with CEOs of major corporations on the gold course as he was as a parish priest, the latter of where I got to know him.
When my kids were small we'd go to Sunday mass that Father Tom said at a neighboring parish. His masses were great, his homilies always right on target, and his warmth palpable. It was said that what he loved most was being a parish priest. I always felt a kinship with him, and only learned this week that he spent the first 9 years of his life in the same part of Queens I grew up in.
The last time I saw him, at a luncheon for the Long Island Association I believe, I chatted with him about another hero of mine who had passed, Father James Tugwood. He told me he knew him, and that this was a great loss of a great priest. I have a friend who worked with Father Tom on several annual fundraisers, and just loved the guy. He was as authentic as they come, and had a heart as big as the ocean. R.I.P, and may God's mercy be upon him.
The second hero passed with much more fanfare. Justice Antonin Scalia was one of those giants I had always hoped to meet. Monte would tell you that Scalia, native to this area, was perhaps the finest grduate of Xaiver HS in NYC, where both Monte and my son attended.
Scalia was as brilliant a mind as exists in America, graduating Xavier as their valedictorian, as tops in his class at Georgetown, and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He was a staunch defender of the Constitution, and would tell anyone who asked that it wasn't his role to interpret what its authors intended, but to interpret exactly what was written. He was a staunch opponent of legislating from the bench, and felt his personal opinions should not influence his decisions. As such he voted to protect the freedoms of protesters who burned the American flag as a right protected by the First Amendment.
Scalia wrote with much diligence even when authoring the minority opinion for the court, rationalizing that for future courts his opinions may influence their own interpretation of their responsibilities to uphold the Constitution in related decisions. Although viewed as a Conservative, and a authentically devout Catholic, his best friend on the court was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, viewed as a liberal justice. Partisan divisiveness was not in his makeup, and he warmly regarded many people of different opinions and persuasions.
A few years ago, he spoke to high school students at Xavier high school. I only found out about it after the fact, or would have loved to attend. I would have listened and learned, and hope to engage him for a few minutes. Like most brilliant people, he had a reputation for being inquisitive, and rather than try to prove to people how brilliant he was, was sincerely interested in what they had to say.
Perhaps the accolades heaped upon his memory will be a spark to help heal a deeply divided nation. But for today, I'm simply sad, even as I reflect on the tiny piece of common ground we shared.