Chicago nostalgia, sort of

It's good to know that the Fine Arts building in Chicago is still standing and occupied, but it's sad to know that its manually operated elevators are on the way out. I remember those elevators from my high school days, when I took some classes in the FAB. At that time, my residence in Hyde Park still had manually operated elevators, and there was an almighty row when management decided to fire the operators and install automatic lifts. But because it was a rental property, the tenants had no power to change anything. I never felt entirely safe in the elevators after the operators disappeared! (I also never felt very comfortable in the Fine Arts Building itself; although it was filled with artists singing and dancing and making music in their studios, I had a sense of foreboding every time I walked into the lobby. No reason, just vibes.)

Judith Wahl

Judith Wahl, the moving spirit behind the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, has died. She was a couple of years ahead of me at Osgoode Hall, and our paths seldom crossed, but I remember clearly her subsequent activism on behalf of elders. She essentially defined and established the practice area of elder law in Canada when she became ACE's first executive director in 1984. Her work on health-care consent and advance planning was pathbreaking. As the ACE remembrance says, "Judith’s contributions to law reform and education initiatives have influenced elder care practices worldwide, cementing her legacy as a champion of elderly rights on the international stage."