ALAN AND AARON

I personally think us bloggers are about the last remaining vestiges of truth on the digital planet. For instance I have been following the comments about Aaron Swartz. I especially thought the comments from "Wired" were very moving.

Aaron is the second Swartz I've known. The first one was a great character also. Alan Swartz. He had been a newspaper man, tried many things, gone into advertising. I lived a couple of houses down from him. He rode his bike and when he caught me in the yard would stop and talk. Full of stories. Early in my career, I was forced to get one of these "super secret clearances" to do my job. Alan didn't even know I was in the military. We laughed at the absurdity of it all. The government sent out these young guys with a list of questions: mostly benigh but Alan thought a little intrusive. We laughed. He was great family man. His son, as I remember, was into swmming and had Olympic potential. Alan hit me up for a donation to help out with training or something. Later on he discovered that the Olympics frowned upon it and he faithfully came around to give back the money. Great guy.

The funniest story Alan ever told me; according to him, our greatest sense of enlightenment came when we were sitting on the "john" and the moment of elimination came. Given that scenario, Alan developed an entire advertising campaign to go on the back of the stalls--for that special moment when we are contemplating our navel.

So, naturally, it was gratifying to discover another Swartz. Alan, like Aaron left us with some drama. Alan goes off on his bike one morning and has a heart attack and dies. What a loss! I am saddened by both their deaths. Aaron apparently made this statement at some time about his depression, "Someone will say, 'Go outside and get some fresh air or cuddle with a loved one.' You do it and you don't feel any better, only more upset at being unable to feel the joy that everyone else seems to feel. Everything gets colored by the sadness."

Suicide is a terrible thing and it robs us of many things, not the least of all, the great presence and potential of a great mind like Aaron. I don't have a clue how someone like Aaron chooses his causes. If we failed him and I don't know that we did (I didn't know him), maybe it was in our failure to protect and cherish what he brought to the table. I am reminded of Al Pacino's speech in the movie, "Scent Of A Woman." Col. Slade (Pachino's character) says about Charley who is up against enormous odds: money, old school and is about to be disciplined for not "ratting" on his spoiled classmates at an elite prep school. Charley is a scholarship student. The school is assembled and the Colonel is speaking up for Charley and says something like, "I don't know if Charley's behavior here today is right or wrong, I am no judge or jury but you can know this, 'Charley won't sell anybody out to buy his future'...we must protect him, cherish him ...one day he'll make us proud." We have these big "minds" like Aaron who come up against "little" mind's and we need to be more aware of cherishing and protecting those like Aaron Swartz. God bless Him on his journey.