Academic

In Memoriam Walter O. Weyrauch

By propertyprof

I heard from Sanford Katz the sad news that long, long-time University of Florida faculty member Walter O. Weyrauch passed away this weekend.   (The University of Florida's announcement is here.)  Just recently the University of Florida hosted a symposium in his honor.   I never had the pleasure of meeting Professor Weyrauch, which is certainly my great loss, though I corresponded a very little with him after reading his article on the Romani legal tradition (written with Maureen Anne Bell) in the Yale Law Journal in 1993 (volume 103, at 323) (here's a Hein On Line link for those with access to it).

What I loved about it when I first read it--now fifteen years ago--was its robust reconstruction of Romani legal understanding.  The article offers a rich understanding of the boundaries of the law, as well as legal practices--and is all the more impressive because it draw on such obscure sources--and shows a legal system that operates parallel to state legal systems.  I felt when I finished the article that I had heard a story that was new and important--and that Weyrauch and Bell had gotten to the bottom of the story.  Such a rare and sublime feeling; that is a wonderful gift that Weyrauch has left us.  I look forward to reading it again soon and to see how my perspective has changed over the years.

Alfred L. Brophy

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).