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First Amendment rights general freedom individual achievement obituary

A Life Too Short

One lesson from the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life, is that “Every man’s life touches so many others.”

Every woman’s life does, too.

On Monday, I was stunned and saddened to read in my morning paper that Cornell University President Elizabeth “Beth” Garrett had died, barely a month after being diagnosed with colon cancer, at only 52 years of age.

“Being the first woman president of Cornell, just as I was the first woman provost at U.S.C., puts me in the position of being a role model — not just for young women, but also for men,” she told an interviewer.

While at the University of Southern California, Beth “was the driving force behind the Initiative and Referendum Institute becoming part of USC,” according to my friend, Dane Waters, founder of the Institute.

I met her in the late 1990s. While we certainly were not in full agreement politically, my respect for her intellectual honesty grew and grew. She produced top notch research on the initiative process

And she cared. Years ago, when the Oklahoma Attorney General unsuccessfully sought to persecute myself and two others, Beth Garrett, an Okie native, reached out to lend her moral support.

Reason magazine mourned her passing by calling her “a staunch defender of free speech on campus.”

“There isn’t any idea that ought not to be tested and questioned,” Garrett once told students. “Because that’s how we get closer to the truth.… So if you disagree with someone, the answer isn’t to shut them down.”

Beth Garrett lived a wonderful life, leading by example. We’ll miss her.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.


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local leaders

Farewell, Freedom’s Champions

As we enter a new year, I’d like to remember all the wonderful souls who have passed from this world in 2008.

In politics, it’s easy to look on the bleak side. Yet, I’m hopeful for our republic, believing that “yes, we can” protect freedom.

One reason? The example set by several men who died this year, men who believed in doing what they thought was right, who stood up for justice and truth. Men I respect.

Marshall Fritz, who founded Advocates for Self-​Government, was a man of boundless energy and good cheer.

William F. Buckley, who I had the privilege of meeting in 1988 when Ron Paul ran for President on the Libertarian Party ticket and I got to accompany him to tape Buckley’s Firing Line program.

Allan Schmid passed away just weeks ago. Folks outside of Michigan may not know the name, but Al was one of the first proponents of term limits. He also pushed for tax limitation. He was a good and great man. Al’s son, Greg Schmid, continues his legacy of actively defending liberty.

Paul Weyrich, a conservative exemplar, died just before Christmas. Paul was very kind to me when I came to Washington in 1991. He provided sage advice to the term limits movement, and was one of the first conservatives to realize the importance of the voter initiative process. Paul never traded principle for political expedience.

Thank you, kind gentlemen, for the examples you set.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.