On the homepage today, I have a personal piece, a little memoir of one of my dearest friends in life, Tom Griesa, the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York. I wish he were here to discuss the piece. He would no doubt have many things to say, and we would have a jolly time.
Tom has connections to NR, and to WFB. He was a donor to NR, an adornment to our events, a participant in our cruises. Years ago, WFB appeared before him, in court. WFB was suing someone. I used to know the details of the case, but I don’t remember them any longer. Judge Griesa awarded WFB damages, but not as much as WFB wanted. He went to a higher court and lost the damages that Griesa had awarded.
Anyway, all in the ancient past. Speaking of the ancient past: Tom’s favorite professor in college was Werner Jaeger, the great German classicist. He inscribed a volume for Tom, in Greek. I asked Tom what it said. He answered, “It says something like, ‘May you be who you already are.’” What Tom was was great.