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recalcitranttoyMy absolute favorite law professor, and the man I had for three classes, Contracts, Administrative Law and Law and Religion, passed on August 26. . I found out today. I've had several "famous" professors, Ken Feinberg of the 9/11 victims fund and now the gulf coast fund, Sam Dash, Watergate Prosecutor that G. Gordon Liddy loved so much, but Steve Goldberg was my absolute favorite. He had a heart attack at age 63.
I was a first year in Contracts class when Professor Goldberg called on me. I pretended I wasn't there. About a week or so later he called on me again. I still didn't say anything. I really didn't feel like being grilled by the contracts professor in front of the class of 120, and was a bit...chicken shall we say. Another week went by and the third time he said, "Now I KNOW you're here....and I'll just keep calling on you until you answer, so why not just get it over with?" So the little squeak came out of the chair in the back row (I always tried to sit in the back) "yes?" He asked some innocuous questions, then said "See, it wasn't so bad, was it?"
Not much happened in Admin law, and he did call on me a few times and I actually answered. My favorite class, by far, was Law and Religion, where our small 10 person class had basically a weekly one on one with Steve. It was always a very vibrant and dynamic discussion, and everyone had to think (including the Professor). I was pregnant that semester, and was doing a study on First Amendment freedom of religion vs. state interest in protection of a child. During my research, I found that there were about 125 forced (as in court ordered) C sections per year, despite the mother's refusals. I was rather upset about this, and I remember Steve being concerned that this might upset me in my condition, and perhaps I might need a different topic :-). I did keep the topic, and got an A on the paper.
After graduation, as we were all walking to the parking lot, Steve caught up with me to congratulate me on passing the 3 years of doom. It was pretty easy to catch me, as I weighed over 200 lbs and could barely waddle :-). I thanked him and asked him why, after working so very hard first year, my grades were mediocre. Yet during my last semester I didn't go to class much (one class I went to opening day and last day), didn't do any real homework, yet made the Dean's list. He leaned over and whispered, "Don't tell the 1Ls, ok?"
My last memory of Steve was when I called him to ask whether or not he would mind being a reference for me for getting into GW's LLM in litigation. He said he not only remembered me fondly, but would be delighted, and mentioned the paper I wrote back in 1991. Wow!
He wrote three "non straight law" books, "Bleached Faith: The Tragic Cost When Religion Is Forced into the Public Square" (2008), Seduced by Science: How American Religion Has Lost its Way (1998), and Culture Clash: Law and Science in America (1994).
Professor Goldberg, you will be very missed.
I was a first year in Contracts class when Professor Goldberg called on me. I pretended I wasn't there. About a week or so later he called on me again. I still didn't say anything. I really didn't feel like being grilled by the contracts professor in front of the class of 120, and was a bit...chicken shall we say. Another week went by and the third time he said, "Now I KNOW you're here....and I'll just keep calling on you until you answer, so why not just get it over with?" So the little squeak came out of the chair in the back row (I always tried to sit in the back) "yes?" He asked some innocuous questions, then said "See, it wasn't so bad, was it?"
Not much happened in Admin law, and he did call on me a few times and I actually answered. My favorite class, by far, was Law and Religion, where our small 10 person class had basically a weekly one on one with Steve. It was always a very vibrant and dynamic discussion, and everyone had to think (including the Professor). I was pregnant that semester, and was doing a study on First Amendment freedom of religion vs. state interest in protection of a child. During my research, I found that there were about 125 forced (as in court ordered) C sections per year, despite the mother's refusals. I was rather upset about this, and I remember Steve being concerned that this might upset me in my condition, and perhaps I might need a different topic :-). I did keep the topic, and got an A on the paper.
After graduation, as we were all walking to the parking lot, Steve caught up with me to congratulate me on passing the 3 years of doom. It was pretty easy to catch me, as I weighed over 200 lbs and could barely waddle :-). I thanked him and asked him why, after working so very hard first year, my grades were mediocre. Yet during my last semester I didn't go to class much (one class I went to opening day and last day), didn't do any real homework, yet made the Dean's list. He leaned over and whispered, "Don't tell the 1Ls, ok?"
My last memory of Steve was when I called him to ask whether or not he would mind being a reference for me for getting into GW's LLM in litigation. He said he not only remembered me fondly, but would be delighted, and mentioned the paper I wrote back in 1991. Wow!
He wrote three "non straight law" books, "Bleached Faith: The Tragic Cost When Religion Is Forced into the Public Square" (2008), Seduced by Science: How American Religion Has Lost its Way (1998), and Culture Clash: Law and Science in America (1994).
Professor Goldberg, you will be very missed.
