Harvey Stower passed away yesterday morning at the age of 65.  If you didn't know Harvey, I feel bad for you.  Guys like Harvey don't come around too often.

     The early- to mid-1970's were an amazing time to come of age.  The War in Viet Nam was winding down, Watergate was heating up and the Arab Oil Embargo hadn't yet driven gasoline prices through the roof.  The drinking age was 18, the world was new, I was attending Nicolet High School in Glendale and Harvey Stower was teaching English.

     Harvey was a liberal in the very best sense of the word.  Not the type of arrogant, self-righteous, condescending, mean-spirited liberal that dominates the Left wing of American politics and the Left-side of the blogosphere today - but an intelligent, compassionate human being with an inquiring mind and a keen interest in the human condition.

     For reasons that I've never quite understood, I was one of the students who Harvey took under his wing.  Even back then, our politics were quite different.  Nevertheless, we had many fascinating discussions.  We didn't necessarily agree about a lot of stuff but I certainly appreciated the dialogue.

     To this day, I vividly recall a conversation that I had with Harvey at Doctor's Park in Fox Point on the last day of school in June of 1974.  What Harvey said to me was private and will remain between us.  Still, I remember our talk as if it was yesterday - and think back on it often.

     As I recall, Harvey left teaching after my junior year in high school and took up the ministry.  Later, he returned to western Wisconsin where he served first in the State Legislature and later as the longtime Mayor of Amery.

     I remember crossing paths with Harvey back in 1994 as I was running for State Attorney General and he was challenging then-U.S. Representative Steve Gunderson for a seat in Congress. I was flattered that he remembered me - and even more flattered when he told me that I might be the first Republican he ever voted for.  I don't know if he really did vote for me - it was just a nice thing to say.  That was Harvey!

     I hadn't seen Harvey for several years.  As a matter of fact, I barely recognize him from his most recent photographs.  To me though, Harvey will always be the young, vibrant teacher that I remember from 1974 who is immortalized in the photographs in my high school yearbook.  I think he would like that.

     There are a lot of people who knew Harvey Stower better than I did.  Still, my life is richer and fuller because our paths crossed for a short while a long time ago.

     Harvey Stower, thank you for everything, God bless you and RIP!