Angry

So I realize it's past 1am on a Tuesday night and I should be in bed banking some extra sleep time, but I'm too angry to sleep right now. I flew back from Missouri early this week because we have a mandatory San Diego send off meeting tomorrow night. I got home at 11:30, watched my DVRed episode of The Biggest Loser (which was awesome, I frigging love that show), and then I leafed through my BU SMG alumni "Builders and Leaders" magazine. There it was on page 36:

In Memoriam: Professor Jeffrey Beatty

Professor Beatty was my business law professor (LA245), and was hands down one of the most influential educators I have ever had. He passed away in December, after a 9 year battle with leukemia.

I never knew he was sick - and I hadn't heard that he passed away. He was the most charismatic man, full of energy, teaching with unparalleled enthusiasm while donning his signature bowtie. You don't get that kind of inspiring personality in intro classes in college. He taught all of us about tenants' rights, since he knew a lot of us were likely being taken advantage of by landlords in Allston and Brighton. He emphasized and even managed to convince Kazaa-addicted college students that intellectual property is the same as real property, and that illegally downloading is equivalent to walking into stores and stealing CDs and DVDs right off the shelves. That's a hard sell to a bunch of broke 20 year olds, but he got to us - this was dear to his heart, as he was a contributor to screenplays and a playwright himself. He spent a great deal of his career fighting for the less fortunate in immigration and discrimination cases. He got us to believe in the importance of giving people the benefit of the doubt. He wasn't a corporate sell out lawyer. He set the most amazing example for all of us, and I never ever missed a law class. I am undoubtedly a better person for having known him. We are all better people for having learned from him. Without him, the law curriculum and the School of Management will never be the same.

I found an article on Boston.com that was written shortly after he died, where a friend of his was quoted. I think this sums him up perfectly: “He was taller than most people and better spoken than most people, and he was better looking and had better manners,’’ said Bill Wheatley, a friend from Petersham. “He was the kind of person who you felt always did the right thing, and he always knew what the right thing was, he never floundered.’’

I am SO ANGRY that this disease takes people like this. It couldn't take the serial killers or the rapists or drug dealers - it takes the man who was doing some GOOD in the world. This remarkable man didn't deserve this, and the future students will forever be missing out as they'll never get the benefit of his teaching. It is so goddamn UNFAIR. I try to stay positive in life in general, but tonight is one of those nights where I'm just mad. And sad. And frustrated. Today I am really really angry that we aren't more focused on getting to a cure.

Here is the article about Professor Beatty as printed in the magazine. Prepare to be blown away by this man's amazing life:

The School has lost a true Renaissance man. Professor of Business Law Jeffrey Beatty died December 20, nine years after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was 61 and lived with his wife Annabel in Belmont, Mass.

The passing of Beatty means the loss of a great teacher, sharp wit, playwright, legal mind, sartorial icon, and friend and mentor to many.

Best known at the School for his business law classes, taught from texts and cases he co-wrote with School of Management Professor of Busines Law Susan Samuelson, Beatty also had a serious interest in the not-so-serious. He would leave voicemails to his friends impersonating someone totally out of context, such as Pedro Martinez, the former Red Sox pitcher. He wrote plays that were voyages to the darker side of human comedy, full of wit and truth.

After graduation from Sarah Lawrence College in 1972, he started his professional life as a ballet dancer, but within a few years switched his focus and attended Boston University School of Law, graduating in 1978. For the next decade, he worked at Greater Boston Legal Services, representing indigent clients in immigration and discrimination cases. He and Annabel married in 1982. In 1987, he joined a private firm and began teaching at BU's School of Management the following year. Soon, he left private practice and developed the school's business law concentration.

Among the honors he garnered at BU was the Metcalf Cup and Prize, the university's highest teaching award, in 2007.

Miles for Professor Beatty tomorrow.

Countdown to San Diego: 11 days
Current status: Angry. Really fucking angry.