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Norm Dyer uploaded photo(s)
Monday, March 8, 2021
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Norm Dyer posted a condolence
Monday, March 8, 2021
When I met John, we were both doing Ph.D.s at UIC, and he was also working in the Medical School library. along side of Thea Chesley, whom I’ve known since age 3. We tried to set aside an hour or 2 per month to just argue philosophy. Unbeknownst to him, he caused the Glencoe Philosophic to be formed, a house rented by 5 graduate students, whom would do friday all-nighters at the fireplace talking philosophy. And on Tuesday evening invite a prof to dinner with a pointed question pre-chosen to be the dinner topic.
I asked John to serve as our Justice of the Peace in 1981 to marry Teresa and myself “by the power vested in me as a Philosopher”. The wedding took place in a castle named Stronghold, in Rockford Illinois. Picture attached.
He invited me to join him at the Symposium of Philosophy in Chicago, must have been the mid-80s. There he dropped a new computer and asked me to fix it before turning it over to its owner. And we laughed at: “You mean you are an ethicist and will not tell her the truth about dropping it? “Not if you can fix it.”
One day John decided he wanted to go completely dry on alcohol consumption and checked himself into the Lutheran General Hospital north of Chicago, rehab program. I delivered him there, and picked him up a week later, during which he described his parents and their lives. After this he stuck to plan, with an utterance “I do manage to complete my goals.”
When an elderly friend of mine wanted to sell her piano, John bought it, and I transported it in trailer, playing it all the way down the expressway. But upon arrival the neighbor’s dog wanted to kill us in the most frenzied ferrocious battle to get through a wooden picket fence I have ever witnessed. (Still traumatized at the thought that the dog had gotten his head through as we danced through the side door.) That piano made it all the way to Galveston, where I got to play it again, sans dog.
In 1986 we drove down to Galveston from Chicago, discussing 20 hours of postmodernism, where John took on the position of assistant professor, Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Institute for Medical Humanities 1986..1997. Where he was on call at the U of T Galveston Hospital as an emergency case ethicist - to authorize medical procedures in case nearest of kin could not be contacted. A rare philosopher to wear a beeper in the line of duty.
When the established professoriate in Philosophy at U of T prescribed a narrow school of thought to the exclusion of all others, John announced he must leave, saying: “I’ll never get tenure here”. He moved to Montclair NJ in 1997, where he taught philosophy at Rutgers New Brunswick. We exchanged visits NJ and IL several times over decade.
John had been called into court cases as an expert witness due to his extensive medical case experience in Galveston. Which eventually caused him to consider law school, so he could do a lot more with these cases. He said: “I work so hard on these cases, and the lawyers get paid so much. And Rutgers Law will waive tuition so long as I am teaching there.” He graduated Law in 2001, after which he clerked for the New Jersey Supreme Court, I don’t know for how many years. Thereafter I would hear from time to time about the cases he was taking on, some of which scared me. He perceived some serious injustices going on in the judicial system, and became something of a knight doing lone battles. I hope he was successful in his quest.
Norm Dyer
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Julie Codell posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
I spent a lovely year when I was on sabbatical in Chicago going around with John listening to music all over the city and eating wonderful ethnic food. He had an amazing mind, philosophical, judicious, compassionate and committed to many good causes. It's so nice to see how he worked for others' good and put his mind to making a better society. My condolences to his partner, family and friends.
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Barry and Betty Codell lit a candle
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
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Always in our hearts. A friend to the end. We will forever miss you, dear John.
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Barry and Betty Codell posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
John was such a great friend to us in our youth. We laughed so hard together, despite our challenges. He was a great friend to eat with, to talk with, to share music and memories with. He had a big heart! He loved his pets, from kitties Bertrand and Russell in the 60's to dear Tramp. John's strength of spirit was an inspiration. He was reader and thinker supreme! We can't believe we've lost this beloved friend! Our hearts go out to Laura, Brittany and Tammy, and also his cousins Kimberly and her family. His mother Zora was the dearest and kindest of persons. Her son
John was a fighter to the end! Gabriel's got a good man on trumpet.
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Astinne Duffey posted a condolence
Monday, October 12, 2020
My favorite memory of Uncle John was when he told Brittany and me about a case he was working on as a public defender. It was about a man who murdered and dismembered a family member, and Uncle John was defending him. I remember being in high school and wondering how in the world Uncle John would be able to defend that man, especially when he knew he was openly guilty! We talked further and he told me how it was always important to have somebody on your side, guilty or innocent. That at the end of the day, this man needed to receive psychiatric help, and without Uncle John defending him and getting him the proper help, he'd likely end up wrongfully in jail without getting the care and help he so desperately needed. That was such a big lesson for me to learn as a freshman in high school, and something I've always carried with me! Even when you think somebody is in the wrong, think about how you may be of service to them that could better both your lives! Another one of my favorite memories, was a family Thanksgiving where Uncle John and my aunt went at it over politics. And I'm telling you, it was quite the argument. When it was all said and done he had no hard feelings towards my aunt, although they were still very much in disagreement about the political issue at hand. He said that it was always important to stand up for the things you believe in but that it shouldn't make you a hateful person. Uncle John was such a brilliant man and loved to help others. It was an honor to have known him, and I will forever miss his wise and enlightening conversations!
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Bill Hebenton posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
I first met John at the LAW & SOCIETY conference in Amsterdam in the summer of 2014. He had convened a panel of which I was a part, and he hosted us all at an amazing Dutch canal house. The events of that few days have lingered with me, and probably always will. In the ensuing years, we kept in touch via SKYPE, with a final in person meeting for coffee outside the British Library in London in the summer 2017 with him and Laura. We were working on a draft (but never finalised !) paper on 'silence' under police questioning. John brought to the table his deep philosophical and legal insights - it was a pleasure to work on it. My last communication with him was a WhatsAPP text message on 30 April 2020 - it simply read "Send me the latest version of our paper along with your comments". I was honoured to meet and work with John; he was indeed a lovely and humane man. I will miss him.
The words of the 17th century English poet John Donne come to mind:
"So come, my friends, be not afraid
We are so lightly here
It is in love that we are made
In love we disappear "
Bill Hebenton - School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.
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Chrysanthi Leon posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
John Douard was a generous, kind, and provocative thinker--he was a crucial mentor to me and did so much work for justice over his lifetime.
John's intervention in my early career deeply impacted my thinking about my role as a scholar advocate. He welcomed my daughter on an academic adventure to Amsterdam in 2013 which was an unusual and meaningful part of his mentorship.
I join his family, clients, colleagues and friends in mourning his loss. Borrowing from the RBG movement, may his memory be for rebellion!
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Christine George lit a candle
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
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John was such a presence in life, even from a distance. I first met him in the early 1970's when we both activists with a Chicago anti-war "revolutionary" organization, Rising Up Angry. John was then, as he was to be throughout his life, passionate for justice, a good friend, so smart and intellectually curious. He was a wonderful combination of things not often found in the same man, intellectual, a vigorous debater and a listener and above all a teacher and a nurturer, He felt, sometimes too deeply for his health, the pain of the world. I have always felt his being there, although in the last 30 years or so, it is through phone calls, facebook, emails.
He came by all his giving strengths naturally. One of the benefits of his friendship was getting to know his mother, a wonderful woman, salt of the earth. What a wonderful role model for all of us at that time. We Greeks say at a person's death: May his memory be eternal. With John it is so easy to envision that that is the case: through his teaching, his mentoring, his advocacy and his life, his memory is in all of us who had the gift of knowing him, and hopefully a bit of that gift will be shared by us as we go forward to others in this wounded world.
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Mick Archer posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
I was friends with John for 46 years. He was best man at my wedding, biggest fan of my music, and was executive producer of a jazz trio album I released in 2011. I would be a very different person, less intelligent and curious, without his stewardship. I am truly lost without him. He is irreplaceable.
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Bob Rosengard posted a condolence
Monday, October 5, 2020
I met John at Roosevelt University, where we worked on The Roosevelt Torch and other student publications. This was a very formative time for me. My earliest significant memory of John was seeing him wrestled to the ground by cops arresting him for protesting the House Un-American Activities Committee's hearings investigating the Chicago Branch of the Communist Party. If memory serves me, our dear friend, Joan Lichterman, who also died this year, was similarly arrested.
Years after I had graduated and wound up in New York, I was so happy to reconnect with John. Barbara and I loved getting together with John and Laura. It's wonderful that they found each other. A brilliant mensch!
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Charles Hinkley lit a candle
Monday, October 5, 2020
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John was a great professor who seemingly read about everything. He helped me become a better student of life. Best wishes my friend.
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Peter Urban posted a condolence
Monday, October 5, 2020
I am so saddened to learn of John’s passing. He was a friend and colleague of my sister Cecelia for some years, and he was very supportive of her and of our family during her fight with cancer and after her passing. I remained in some contact with John in the ensuing years on FB, and I always admired how he always brought an intelligent, well-considered, and principled interpretation of life and the craziness of our times. I will miss his voice greatly. RIP, my friend.
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Mary White posted a condolence
Monday, October 5, 2020
When I moved to Galveston for graduate school in 1995, I had no place to live. John offered me a place to stay for two weeks, my first experience of his boundless generosity. As a professor, he had perhaps the most inquiring mind I encountered there, reading widely across disciplines, exploring new music, film, art, always open for conversation, ready to share his latest interest. And he stayed in touch over the years, visiting me in Ohio on his way to Chicago a few times. Thank you, John, for your friendship, and all the good you brought to this world. I just wish we could talk about the current political scene - I know you would have a few choice words.
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Amy Booth lit a candle
Sunday, October 4, 2020
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Rest in peace John - and love to all you leave behind.
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jerry soffer posted a condolence
Sunday, October 4, 2020
It's hard to put into words. Jazz, philosophy, and politics. John got me going into Manhattan to hear jazz concerts, then got me to bring my wife along, opening a whole new world for her. He was a dynamic storehouse of such a broad range of ideas and writings that I could only try to absorb a small portion of what he'd tell me about. Even that small portion enhanced my knowledge and thinking. I'll be forever indebted to him
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Marianne Zettl posted a condolence
Sunday, October 4, 2020
If I could have a wish today, it would be to see you one more time and say everything I wanted to say before you said good-bye. We laughed together & we cried together. We didn't always agree on everything, but the one thing we always agreed on was how much we loved each other. All of the memories I have of you will always be so precious in my heart & I know you are with Mom & Dad now looking down on me & keeping me safe. I am so proud to say that you are my brother & I will miss you forever & always. I love you!
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Caleb uploaded photo(s)
Sunday, October 4, 2020
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You are an honorable man John! My wife and her mom were lucky to have had such a great man in their lives. I will take care of them now. Rest easy sir, you are greatly missed!
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Brittany Melton uploaded photo(s)
Sunday, October 4, 2020
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Sveri Stromsta May Posted Oct 5, 2020 at 10:40 AM
John the son of my moms sister Peggy or Zora was a very special cousin to me. Being 10 years older than me, made it extra special that he took the time to walk our Grandmas farm with me talking about events, life in general that would well over my head as a 10 year old. John excelled at talking philosophy to anyone but I loved this time spent with my cousin Johnny. This didn’t end as I grew up but he didn’t grow up as he was always an adult I think. Vote but he would want you to vote blue.
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Brittany Melton uploaded photo(s)
Sunday, October 4, 2020
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It hurts me deeply to live in a world without you in it. You were so intelligent and I learned something new every single time we talked. You always helped me with my school and were so supportive of my education. You were always someone that my mom and I could count on and you are so missed already. Thank you for your never ending love and support Uncle John, my life will never be the same without you! I love you so much!
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Carla Petievich posted a condolence
Saturday, October 3, 2020
I met John through Laura, when I moved to Montclair in 1992 and we became colleagues and friends. We enjoyed frank exchanges of views--for he was indeed a beloved contrarian--and shared many evenings of poker, bridge, going out to dinner and hearing music together. I'll miss his kindness, his intelligence, his wit, and his dedication to the cause of justice. I was going to vote anyway, but now I shall do so in his honor. All the love to Laura that she can absorb, and if there is indeed a Great By and By, John, I'll look for you there.
Carla Petievich
Austin, TX
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Pat Jakobi posted a condolence
Saturday, October 3, 2020
This has caught me totally by surprise and I am greatly sadden by the news. John was my philosophy professor when I was at the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the UT Medical Branch back in the early 90s. We spent hours going back and forth on issues as he was constantly challenging my innate conservatism, trying to pull me into an expanded understanding of the world and its inequities. I have maintained contact over the years, most recently through Facebook. I will really miss him, as will my son, who just loved to listen to John talk about almost anything.
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Mick Archer posted a condolence
Friday, October 2, 2020
It’s hard to imagine a world without John in it to explain thing. He was my mentor and best friend since we met at U.of I. In 1974. He was best man at my wedding, and was known and loved by my family. I’m trying to locate a picture I have of him onstage with me,playing trumpet in a large rock band assembled for a concert back in 1980. He never looked happier. Miss you so much, my brother!
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Norma uploaded photo(s)
Friday, October 2, 2020
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The family of John Walter Douard uploaded a photo
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
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Montclair, NJ 07042
Phone: (973) 744-4346