Jackson Jambalaya

A Great Man passed away this weekend: Dan M. Lee. Retired Chief Justice Dan M. Lee. Former pilot in WWII, Pacific Theater. Prosecutor. Lawyer. Judge. Justice, then Chief Justice. I knew him since I was born as he was one of Grandad's close friends. We knew him back when he was a lawyer, then a judge. Never forget when he sat in our den and told us how he was running for Supreme Court Justice. I was a kid back then and didn't get what all he was running for but I just remember being impressed by him, like he was the Uncle you always wished you had. Kind, down to earth but rugged and straightforward, that was Dan Lee. As I got older, I got to know him better. I'd visit him at his office. I remember how proud he was of me when I told him I was shipping off for basic training as I'd enlisted in the reserves. I remember feeling like I had grown up when I told him that and saw him when I returned. The feeling of having something in common with someone like that can't be described even though I never saw combat as he did.

He was one of the reasons I went to law school as he asked me when I was in eighth grade if I ever thought about being a lawyer. My father about died when I told him what Dan said as he hated attorneys but the thought stayed in my mind ever since. When I was in college I took the LSAT on a lark and surprised myself by doing well. He wrote my recommendation letter for law schools and next thing I knew, I was sweating the rule against perpetuities like so many other shysters. Dan would call me up and tell me when I should come watch a hearing at the State Supreme Court. I saw some good ones. I'd then go to his chambers afterwards and learn quite a few things that weren't taught over on East Griffith Street as he smoked his pipe.

I talked to him some after he left the Court. He retired for a short while, maybe a year, and the returned to practice. He joked that his wife, who was talented in her own right as an artist and psychiatrist, was about to go nuts as he was home so much so he went back to practicing his first love, oil and gas law, and helping the Court out from time to time.

There as something about Dan Lee that commanded respect not seen much in the legal profession today. Too many attorneys today are impressed by themselves, anxious to show off their latest rolex, adverstising their exotic vacations, first into the exclusive neighborhoods, grabbing a trophy wife when the first or second wife gets a little too familiar, and always bragging about themselves, or feeling the need to call themselves Darth Vader. The real Darth Vader never had to tell anyone who he was. They just knew. Dan Lee didn't know the wine list at Char, he just knew the law.

Dan was none of those things. Walking down the street with him was always an education. People came out of the woodwork to say hello to Dan. There was a quiet strength about him. The kind that didn't crumble at the first sign of trouble or was easily ruffled. He knew what he was about. It wasn't just lawyers who would approach him. It was ordinary people: policemen, janitors, regular people who never walked on a marble floor or had a business card. He treated everyone the same: with respect and kindness and it was reflected back to him every day of his life.

While he garnered respect as a man and Chief Justice, he had all the respect in the world for the Mississippi Supreme Court. He always though the Court itself should be a hallowed institution in Mississippi that commanded respect because it had earned it. He didn't think much of law clerks who were seen out late at night in bars during the week. He thought if you were a member of the Court, be it a Justice or janitor, you were the Court wherever you were in public and should act like it. It was a respect rarely given by our leaders today, as they too often see every office and court as a political football and forget about the institutions themselves. Duty, honor, respect, courage, humility. Such were the virtues Dan M. Lee showed throughout his life. Yes, I've cried tonight. But even though now I'm sad and am glad his suffering is over, I know I was blessed for knowing him and became a better person for it. Somehow, I don't think I am the only one who can say that about Dan M. Lee. Farewell Judge Lee, you will be missed.