Frank Barbaro, the candidate whose campaign I'm volunteering on, spoke as well and I was so very impressed that some people can stand up in front of an audience and without any effort or planning (or so it seems), the words just flow. Not only do they so easily flow, but they are logical, spare, non-repetitive and, best of all, inspiring.
Back to Sol: he was an ardent trade unionist, having been a social worker in the poor, Brownsville section of Brooklyn for many years. In fact, the week before he expired, it is said that prayers were said for him in many churches in his old bailywick, even though he's been retired for so many years. He evidently made an impression that wasn't soon forgotten.
Sol was a persuasive progressive. He never raised his voice; he didn't use bombast to convince people of his point of view. But he was also an intellect; he knew his stuff and it was hard, if you disagreed with his point of view, to refute the logic of his argument.
In my speech, I simply read John Donne's poem of 1694:
No man is an island, entire of itself
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.
I thought it pretty much summed-up Sol's life which was one of showing concern for other human beings. That was the golden thread that was woven through all his activities, through his work, through his relationship with his wife, Mildred, with his kids and with his contacts with people on a day-to-day basis.
Sol will be greatly missed -- by me and by the many people that he touched throughout his long life. I believe that Sol's life can be a role model and a moral compass that we can all learn from.
Sol Gorelick
Frank Barbaro addressing Sol's memorial at the Shorefront YM-YWHA in Brighton Beach
Sol's wife, Mildred, reading letters from friends who could not attend
My dear friend, Georganna Deas, Coney Island activist and Sol's and my colleague when we worked to stop the privatization of Coney Island Hospital. A struggle that we won!
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