A New Star In The Cosmos

 If you have access to the Hubble telescope tonight, check out a new shining star that will be bringing a special brilliance to our harmonious universe.  Its name is Lawrence Alden Aschenbrenner.

Larry departed his long run on this small planet yesterday morning and what a legacy he designed in those 90 years. When most of us confer with our better angels, how much inconvenience their counsel will create is alway figured into the resulting decision.  With Larry it was always, "We'll do the right thing."

He and his wife, Katie, brought together a family of Ted, Dan, Connie and John. His larger family of school classmates, professional colleagues, client admirers, and ordinary friends would fill his beloved University of Oregon football stadium.

In his childhood years Larry was the proverbial preacher's kid with seemingly endless escapades of harmless mischief but that Methodist environment of his home marinated Larry's moral core into a life-long mission of crusading for social justice for every citizen.  From his at risk adventures in Jackson, Mississippi (he called it the most racist city in America) giving legal assistance to African Americans at the height of the '60s and '70s Civil Rights movement, to his advocacy for Native Alaskans rights in Anchorage,  Larry Aschenbrenner fought the good fight.

Through all his serious career in righting what he saw as wrong, he had a rollicking fun-factor in his German heritage and would recite Casey At The Bat with or without a pint of beer to lubricate his delivery whatever the occasion.  He was just a great companion and his was a magnificent life.  Star light, star bright...