For a guy his age who lost his spouse a few years back he is doing pretty OK. He still works 3 days a week as a senior judge; has his own social life; and lives with his family surrounded by grandkids constantly under foot.  He still only wears his signature bowties as he has since he was a young man.

My Dad grew up in the Great Depression as a first generation American. Like many, he always had boarders in the small apartment he was raised in as my grandparents struggled to get by. He went into the Air Force in 1941 (for $1 a day) and after the war returned to the state he trained in because he liked sunshine and opportunity seemed to abound here. After the GI bill helped him through law school, he began a near uninterrupted path of public service for 65 years: as a legislative aide in the Florida state senate where he saw the ugliest parts of segregation; a Chief Assistant state attorney in a wild Miami; an Assistant Attorney General in Tallahassee; a Chief Judge in the juvenile court; a mayor (of Miami Beach); and even a professor (he earned his PhD in the 1960’s at FSU).  He and my Mom, a career school teacher who was his opposite in so many ways, were a great pair. If I had to describe his politics it would be conservative about law enforcement, progressive about social issues, but overwhelmingly pragmatic to the extent pragmatism can by a political philosophy.

My Dad is a step slower than he was when he played basketball at City College night school (perhaps more than a step). But he is fortunate that unlike many others his mind remains quick and memory intact. In every way, my life is a reflection of my parents. My Dad has always believed that the mark of a great public servant was accepting that anything truly good you do will come to fruition when you are long gone from public life. In the age of constant media cycles and focus groups, his views might be considered outdated or quaint. But today as Florida faces so many challenges borne out of short-term thinking and shallow policies, I think my Dad and his bowties are still pretty fashionable.

Happy Birthday Pops.