Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 18, 2009
View from the Cheap Seats
Play it again, Sam
Bill James
WmJamesJr@aol.com
This is the final column of the year. As with every column, a lot of thought goes into what I should write about. I considered writing about New Year’s resolutions. I also considered something in the spirit of “It is a Wonderful Life” to encourage everyone to take stock in their lives and those that they love. It seemed like that was just more of the same. Then, I thought about writing about Sam Laser who will allegedly be 90 years young come the 22nd of December.
I met Sam through my activities with the bar. I do not recall exactly when I first met him, but I seem to recall that I was very proud when he first acknowledged that he knew me. I have heard a lot of stories about Sam, and I am sure not all of them are true.
What I am sure of is, that Sam wants us all to believe they are all true. You see, I have never heard a bad story about Sam. A few have been off color, but I never heard any that put Sam in a negative light. At least not from a man’s point of view.
I was about to say that I wonder if I will ever make it to 90 years, but I really don’t expect to make it to that milestone. I am sure that I will not ever reach the notoriety that Sam Laser has over his years as an attorney.
Men of his caliber come once in a lifetime, that is why we celebrate them when we get the chance. Maybe, the celebration is no more than an attempt by us lesser beings to live vicariously through the man we all know and love. The man that did it his way, and by all accounts was as good an attorney as you could find.
The great thing about being an attorney in Arkansas is that we are a small enough bar that we all have a chance to meet the titans of our profession. When we get that close to the big names in the bar, we realize that while they are human, there is something about them that makes them stand above the crowd. You can’t buy it, you can’t teach it. You either have it or you don’t. Sam was born with it.
Sam, it is a great honor to devote the last column of the year to you and an even greater honor to share in the celebration of your birthday. Thank you for all that you have done and remember that birthdays, like good friends, come and go, but you can’t replace either one.
Here is to 90 more birthdays Sammy! That is from the heart, way up here in the CHEAP SEATS!
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