Remembering Bobby Lipkin

I remember Bobby Lipkin very fondly as a founding member of the Ratio Juris weblog. He was thrilled to discover the joys of blogging and soon founded his own blog, Essentially Contested America. These new channels for communication gave him a voice and an immediacy unique to online media. Bobby mastered this craft and quickly developed a devoted following.

As so often happens in our wired world, Bobby and I never personally met. I regret that I never even heard his voice on the telephone. We nevertheless enjoyed a rich professional relationship. Frankly, his e-mail correspondence and his blog posts were so vivid that he always seemed near. Bobby loved his family, including his cats. His posts about the loss of a cat to tainted food were among his most moving contributions to Ratio Juris and Essentially Contested America.

Bobby Lipkin touched so many lives, within his family, his circle of friends, his students, and the academic community. I valued his friendship and will miss him.

Robert Justin Lipkin, 1943-2010 (Memorial Update)

I learned today from Jack Balkin at Balkinization that my co-blogger, Robert Justin ('Bobby') Lipkin, has died. Alas, I only knew Bobby from his thoughtful posts and writings, as well as from kind e-mail correspondence. His training in philosophy was evident both in his published work and the posts here at Ratio Juris. I readily inferred from his written words that Bobby's heart and mind worked in perfect tandem toward the greater good. And I'm sure Jack's sentiment rings true among those who knew him: "Bobby was a lovely man and will be deeply missed."

Jim Chen writes that he is "quite shaken" by news of Professor Lipkin's death, and that "truly no one had a kinder soul than Bobby."

The memorial notice from Widener Law is here.

Update from Professor Andrew Strauss of Widener Law School:

My colleagues and I would like to let you know that Widener Law School will be hosting a memorial for Bobby at 4:00 on March 8th at the Law School's Delaware Campus in Wilmington. The formal program will last about an hour to be followed by a reception where people can share their thoughts and memories on a more informal basis. The address and directions to the Delaware campus are here: Click here: Widener Law - Delaware Visitors Center.

Also, we are preparing a book of thoughts and remembrances about Bobby for his family and other people who were close to him. In addition to the comments from the list serve, if anyone would like to write something specifically for the book, please let either Associate Dean Erin Daly or me know in the next few days. Also, please feel free to email with any questions about the memorial. I can be reached at andrewstrauss@comcast.net, and Erin can be reached at edaly@mail.widener.edu.

Andrew Strauss
Distinguished Professor of Law
Widener University School of Law
4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803

302-477-2254