Meditation On The Life Of Herman I. Pollock

• Date: 01 April 1972
• Published date: 01 April 1972
• Author: Robert M. Landis
• DOI: 10.1177/003288557205200107
• Subject Matter: Articles

-63-

Meditation

On

The

Life

Of

Herman

I.

Pollock

It

is

fitting

to

be

gathered

here

at

this

time,

under

golden

skies,

even

with

the

leaves

beginning

to

fall

and

a

sense

of

winter

which

is

always

somehow

symbolic

of

grief,

beginning

to

stir.

There

is

nothing

about

the

falling

of

autumnal

leaves

or

the

rising

of

the

winds

of

cold

that

comes

unexpectedly,

cer-

tainly

not

as

unexpectedly

as

death,

whatever

its

time,

however

its

suddenness.

So

that

in

the

glorious

sunlight

today,

I

suspect

that

the

joyous

spirit

and

courage

of

the

man

whose

life

we

memorialize

today

would

dispel

the

edge

of

the

winter’s

wind

if

he

were

here

among

us

because

this

was

always

his

way.

Where

does

one

begin

to

speak

of

the

life

of

a

man

such

as

this?

Bare

biographical

data

are

easy

to

catalogue,

but

formidable

as

they

may

be,

they

suggest

rather

than

sing

of

him

and

his

accomplishments.

Perhaps

the

most

appropriate

place

is

to

tell

of

the

years

of

love

and

spiritual

understanding

between

Herman

and

Jeanne

Pollock,

herself

a

leader

in

her

profession

of

social

work,

whom

I

have

known

for

many

years

as

friends,

who

have

lived

and

enjoyed

the

supreme

satisfactions

of

life

in

our

culture,

who

have

travelled

together

to

many

parts

of

the

world,

who

together

and

separately

have

both

served

the

greater

ends,

the

nobler

causes

of

their

community

and

their

time-which

have

not

always

been

notable

for

servants

of

great

ends

and

noble

causes.

Of

both

of

them

it

may

be

said

that

the

measure

of

true

professionals

is

those

whose

destiny

is

in

helping

to

fashion

the

quality

of

the

social

order

in

which

they

live.

Perhaps

then

we

should

turn

to

earlier

years:

to

Temple

University

where

Herman

was

graduated

with

an

A.

B.

degree

in

1925,

and

to

his

years

at

the

University

of

Pennsylvania

Law

School

where

he

was

graduated

with

a

J.

D.

degree.

And

then

to

the

many

years

in

which

he

literally

dedicated

his

life

to

seeking

justice

for

the

disadvantaged

and

the

for-

gotten.