There must be a follow-up to this as a result of most won’t ever actually admire the underlying depth of John Pappas’ influence on Florida property insurance coverage legislation till it’s totally defined. John Pappas was my pricey pal, my legislation faculty classmate, and Greatest Man at my marriage to Kim Merlin. We have been shut buddies and adversaries—a really tough combine.
I landed on a red-eye from San Francisco yesterday in Atlanta. I usually am doing one thing that causes these loopy schedules. I had simply completed the Rolex Huge Boat Regatta on Merlin in San Francisco. If you happen to like loopy and uncontrolled racing on a 70’ sailboat, here’s a video of it:
After I caught an all-night flight to Atlanta following my race to present a speech titled “What Does Your Consumer Consider You? How Solely An Ethically and Worth Oriented Public Adjusting Agency Succeeds” I realized that one thing was mistaken.I acquired a textual content about John and his passing from his sister in legislation. I knew from my final go to with him to be involved. I simply didn’t suppose he would die earlier than I noticed him once more. I assume that’s the means it’s, or we might always be with these we love until the bitter finish.
Paul Butler began all this. He ought to inform the story. However my story with John Pappas goes to be distinctive as a result of no person needed to rent John Pappas in 1982 besides me, a punk legislation clerk who noticed nice potential in an older pal and legislation faculty classmate who saved successful moot court docket competitions. John liked to argue and take an opposed place on all the pieces and something simply to argue. It was his nature—the right insurance coverage property insurance coverage protection lawyer.
The Butler agency, which is now effectively over 140 attorneys, consisted of Paul Butler, Emory Wooden, Sandy Burnette, Bob Freemon, and Bobby Santos when John entered it in 1982. I joined a number of months later as a result of I clerked longer than Bobby or John, making an attempt to not be so younger once I began into the follow. John, Bobby, and I have been contemporaries and labored lengthy and spartan hours, to say the least, and have been at all times supporting each other. Scott Dutton and future named accomplice John Weimuller joined the agency later the next yr.
I’m not solely certain what I need to say about John and my fond reminiscences of him. There are such a lot of tales. But, to his true nature, he has deliberately requested for no plans for a ceremony after his demise. We may do one final “Pappas storytelling” to get again at him. I feel he wouldn’t need us to surrender regardless of his feigned afterlife protests.
I’d recommend that you just take a couple of minutes to take heed to Samuel Barber’s Opus 11, considered one of my favourite items, as a result of it appears to carry out the character of a deep soul with complicated depth:
I’ll definitely have extra to say about John Pappas at a later date. It’s just a bit powerful to take action proper now.
Thought For The Day
The deep ache that’s felt on the demise of each pleasant soul arises from the sensation that there’s in each particular person one thing which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, due to this fact, completely and irretrievably misplaced.
—Arthur Schopenhauer