Thread by @JimRosicaFL

The 'celebration of life' for Sandy D'Alemberte at @floridastate Ruby Diamond auditorium has begun with a piano rendition of "Young at Heart" by Velma Frye.
#FlaPol

@floridastate FSU prez John Thrasher smiles and tells the crowd at D'Alemberte's celebration of life, "I'm going to try to get through this." #FlaPol

@floridastate Thrasher mentions the "Shell lunch bunch" that D'Alemberte used to have lunch with, mentioning a popular Tally spot, including longtime attorney Duby Ausley. #FlaPol

@floridastate Thrasher, president since 2014, first worked with Sandy on the impeachment proceedings of @flcourts justices in the 1970s.

"Sandy wore a bow tie even back then," he said, wearing one of Sandy's that his wife gave Thrasher. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Thrasher tells story of how D'Alemberte would holler at the umpire at FSU baseball games, then blame law professor Chuck Ehrhardt. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts D'Alemberte, FSU president 1994-2003, was force behind creation of FSU College of Medicine. He later nominated Thrasher to be president. "Set the bar for being FSU prez so high." #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Thrasher praised D'Alemberte for his "unabashed sense of justice and for being a voice for those who have no voice." #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Patsy Palmer, D'Alemberte's wife, said he would smile in his sleep, but would also cry out — pain from a motorcycle accident plagued him for years. Still, he "stood for hours on graduation stages...and for his last oral argument barely 3 months ago." #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts His favorite dream was flying; that's when solutions to problems would come to him, Palmer said. She would ask him what kind of plane. He said he didn't need a plane. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts He also didn't to need dream at night; he spent waking hours endlessly dreaming, she said.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts He dreamed of "a more just society and a healthy environment for his grandchildren to grow up," Palmer said. She mentioned all the pro bono cases he took on, but he never felt he could do enough.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts What will we do without Sandy? Palmer said she has been asked. Don't let Sandy's dreams die with him, she answers. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Son Joshua D'Alemberte said "people often compared him to Atticus Finch (of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'), but Atticus Finch was half the man my dad was." #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Martha Barnett, retired Tallahassee lawyer & former ABA president, said she "assumed he would live forever," "always a dreamer and a doer," said the law ran through his life and he knew "what could happen when it was distorted."
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Mentioned his role in creation of FSU's Center for Advancement of Human Rights, represents among others trafficking victims. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Also ventured into architecture, played role in creation of law school green and Rotunda, insisted on new campus buildings following "collegiate gothic" style.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Also joked about bucking tradition as law school dean, insisting that the school have a, yes, fax machine. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts ..."We should remember that we were privileged to live among his greatness," Barnett said.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts D'Alemberte also helped create a kind of legal Peace Corps, says Mark Ellis of the International Bar Association. He knew that legal systems in other countries could use help, rather than criticism.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Jim Apthorp, chief of staff to Gov. Reubin O'D. Askew, was represented by D'Alemberte in his unsuccessful challenge of the state’s blind trust law. Says Sandy asked him to be his Lt. Gov. when he considered a run for governor. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts They were talked out of it.
#FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts Also mentioned his brief flying career, which didn't go well, so D'Alemberte took up birdwatching instead.
He once identified 90 species of birds, Apthorp recalled on one excursion. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts The celebration of Sandy D'Alemberte's life ends with the playing of "The Hymn to the Garnet and the Gold" by pianist Stella Cottrell. #FlaPol

@floridastate @flcourts @threadreaderapp unroll

...One more for the road: Garnet and Gold bowtie cookies in Sandy D‘Alemberte‘s honor. #FlaPol