Dean's Address

MINKEY

By Dicky Grigg

Mr. President, Fellows and spouses of the Academy.  It is truly an honor to stand before you as Dean of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, especially so on our 50th anniversary.

As any of the Dean's who have come before me can attest, this is a very difficult speech to make.  It is not that I have not made numerous speeches in the past.  In fact, I am known as the "go to guy" if you need a speech that does not involve substance. Broadus will tell you, if you keep your expectations low, I will meet them.

Peter John was a great help to me.  I don't even know if he remembers, but at our meeting in New York, he told me to speak about something that was important to me, something that I was passionate about.  I was off to a running start until Mary Gay rained on my parade.  She gently explained that probably not everyone was interested in Texas Tech football. I did toy with using Coach Bob Knight's "Rules of Civility" for a topic, but decided the dean's address needed to be longer than a minute and a half.

The title to this address - "Minkey" – was chosen by former First Lady Lyn Parks.  Lyn was of invaluable assistance to me in preparing this speech.  In fact, Lyn was actually the "ghost writer" of this speech.  If there are any parts of this presentation you find offensive, those are the parts written by Lyn - please take it up with Lyn.

According to Lyn, the "Minkey" was a legendary panther that roamed the Florida Everglades in prehistoric times. According to the mythology of the Seminole and the Hacksaw Indians, the illusive Minkey was the symbol of knowledge, of enlightenment.  So Minkey seemed to be a fitting title because it is appropriate on the 50th anniversary of the Academy to pause a few moments and reflect on how the IATL has enlightened and enriched each of our lives.

One more thing before I venture into something I hope is substantive, (a high sea for which I have no compass) I would be remiss if I did not thank Mary Gay for her assistance in the preparation of these remarks.  It is invaluable to have a bright, intelligent, educated editor who is willing to lovingly critique your work and give you constructive criticism.  Like, "This sucks."  "This idea is patently offensive."  "This would insult the intelligence of a third grader."  However, there are parts that Lyn and I slipped in after Mary Gay's final edit.

For the next few minutes let us reflect together on how the Academy has enlightened and enriched our lives.

If asked the question, "How has the IATL enriched your life?"  Most, if not all of us, would readily respond – the friends we have made.  Each of our lives has been truly blessed by the companionship and comradeship we share with the Fellows and the spouses that make up this organization.

I know I am joined by my brethren from the South when I say through the Academy we've discovered that not all Yankees are bad.  Bobo Cunningham and I were discussing this, and we are not convinced that David Cleary is a typical human being, much less a typical Yankee.

This enlightenment has not been one-sided, not just South to North.  I bet prior to joining the Academy, very few of you knew where Marshall, Texas was, or ever had heard of Caddo Lake.

I think each of you would agree that the Academy has broadened you culturally.  We have benefited from experiences we could not have enjoyed had we not been with the Academy.  We have taken private tours of famous places and museums.  Tours conducted by curators or experts that are not available to the unwashed masses.  We have enjoyed fantastic dinners in the Library of Congress, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Ellis Island.  Speaking about culture, what about Marti Phillips and Ron Rouda?  Ron is one of the few guys who could quit his day job.

Granted, some of us had very narrow cultural horizons and it did not take much to enlarge them.  I was raised in West Texas where the main cultural experiences involved either high school football or religion.  Cultural highlights were tent revivals with all-day singings and dinner on the ground.  I had an interesting conversation with Katherine DeMarco on religion.  I don't know what they teach at the Harvard Divinity School, but in West Texas, I learned two lessons. First, that God is love and if you cross him, you'll burn in hell.  Secondly, that sex is the dirtiest, filthiest act you can commit so you should save it for someone you really love.

When you travel with the Academy, you go first class.  Just having dinner was a new experience for some of us because in Texas you have breakfast, lunch and supper, but not dinner.  Not only staying in a hotel instead of a motel, but getting a room all night instead of by the hour was a big deal.  Wine with a cork was impressive.

As awesome and as enlightening as these cultural milestones have been, I would like for us to focus on the "International" aspect of the Academy, to reflect on how traveling around the globe with the Academy has enriched and broadened our knowledge of the world we live in.

All of us are now citizens of the world.  Hal, it's still true that Lubbock is the center or the world, but the world now extends beyond the Great Plains, beyond the Red River, and beyond the Rio Grande.  In order to be a "good" citizen, we have a responsibility to learn about other countries, to try to understand other cultures – to keep informed.

Through the IATL, we have a unique opportunity to become more informed citizens of this world, and therefore better citizens of the world.  On traveling with the Academy, I'd like to share some observations with you.

I cannot take you back over 50 years or all of the wonderful trips the Academy has taken.  But as I go over a few of the moments that were meaningful to me, think about some of the memories you treasure from your trips with the Academy.  Events that, like Lyn's Minkey, have been enlightening.

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