It’s nice when a person you’ve long admired turns out to be as good as advertised. Last week, Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor visited Wayne Law. The occasion was a day-long symposium, Options for an Independent Judiciary in Michigan, co-sponsored by the Law School and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Justice O’Connor delivered a very well-received keynote address, underscoring her preference for merit selection of judges in Michigan and elsewhere. She is no newcomer to this issue; as Arizona’s Senate Majority Leader, she championed merit selection of judges in that state in the early 1970’s.

Justice O’Connor was introduced by our own Marilyn Kelly, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. It was fun to watch an instant rapport develop between the two jurists, and it is my sense that Justice O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, has a strong pull on women who have followed her onto the bench. And for good reason. Raised on a ranch straddling the Arizona-New Mexico border, Justice O’Connor is the genuine article: down-to-earth yet scholarly, businesslike yet warm. Upon her arrival (we were lucky to catch her and our other speakers during a brief window between two major snowstorms), she asked me for a quick briefing on the first hour of the day’s program, then proceeded to the auditorium to listen to the other speakers. She was pleased to see former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, and so was I. Many years ago (years that she has worn far better than I), Becky Kourlis and I attended the Colorado Bar Review together; a short time later, we joined forces on a case.

The philosopher Martin Buber once said that “all real living is meeting.” Last week’s assemblage of wise and warm-hearted individuals on our campus confirmed that.