CONVERSATION WITH THE PUBLISHER
Sen.Severns teaches
a final lesson about service
by Ed Wojcicki People curled around the outside of St. Patrick's Church in Decatur last month an hour before the memorial service for the late Sen. Penny Severns. As more people slowly filled the church, the line remained steady and the overflow crowd filtered into the convention center across the street. All were there to honor a respected public official whose life ended at the age of 46. Gov. Jim Edgar and legislative leaders James "Pate" Philip, Emil Jones and Mike Madigan attended, along with many state senators and representatives and all of the candidates for governor. But that was to be expected, I guess. What impressed me even more about the service was that these officials knew how essential it was to set aside partisan differences and any petty feuds that day to celebrate Penny's life and accomplishments. They united for a higher purpose, a common purpose. So it occurred to me as I drove home to Springfield that if these officials could find that common ground and recognize their human bond for a few hours, why couldn't they operate at that higher level more often while doing the people's business in Springfield? They have a reputation here for being increasingly partisan and more concerned about setting themselves up for triumph in the next election than in thoughtful deliberation in search of imaginative solutions for the state's problems. Perhaps it did all of us some good to hear eloquent quotes from Yeats, JFK and Robert Frost, and to hear Sen. Vince Demuzio refer to his late friend as Princess WinterSpring SummerFall, "a princess for all seasons." Severns was inspired in childhood by JFK's declaration that the torch of leadership had been passed to a new generation. Severns carried that torch nobly, Father Donald Wolford said, and now has passed the torch to us. It's a torch that should make anybody in leadership search more nobly and more humbly for higher ground and common ground for the sake of all the people they serve. Surely that means there is far more to public service than reading polls and fretting about who will win the next election. This month we begin a three-part series on the intersection of science, ethics and public policy. Projects like this don't get put together overnight. Words of congratulations are in order for projects editor Donald Sevener and writer Howard Wolinsky for putting together a terrific lead article in the series. I am also grateful to the Illinois Humanities Council, which provided some funding. Editor Peggy Boyer Long explains more about the series in her column. Illinois Issues April 1998 / 3 |
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