People who've gone on ahead this year

We should honor these colleagues' contributions

It seems sort of de rigueur to publish a look back at the end of a year and recognize people who have passed away during that time. Of course, usually publications do so at the turn of the calendar year, but I got to thinking about it as Special Education Today approaches the end of its fourth publication year.

Where are our pals from years gone by?

AI-generated view of mountains clouds and pastoral view.

This post provides an opportunity for some retrospection. Here are the four remembrances published (chronologically) here on SET between July 2024 and May 2025.¹

Reflection

As I wrote these remembrances at the time that they were published, I had to fret about shorting out my keyboard, because it was terrifically difficult for me keep from crying on it. Now, as I draft this post, my emotions are filling my eyes again.

It’s not just that there are friends among the people whom we remember here. It seems to me that the passing of these people represents the start of a new era in special education. These leaders—Jim, Meg, Rud, and Lynn—were born before there was much in the way of legal protections for students with disabilities. In the early years of their careers, they witnessed those protections coming into being. They represent the generation that worked to ensure that those legal protections were established.

Some might contend that these people were not pioneers themselves, but I’ll reply that they were, for damn sure, at least on the wagons and helping settle the frontier. To be sure, each of these people was inspired by the work of those who came before them; they collaborated with and were inspired by their mentors, advisors, and contemporaries. But they were in the action, digging, hammering, lifting, paving…doing so many things to establish our discipline.

These folks and their pals helped build the edifice of special education that we now occupy. We may argue that edifice is malformed or insecure (I don’t), but we ought to honor their efforts, seize the torch, and carry it forward. And thank them.

And, less we forget, many others passed away in earlier years. There are remembrances of some of them in the “clumps” (see the top line on this page) under “obituaries and remembrances.”

It is somewhat fitting that I finished this post on 30 May, the traditional Memorial Day in the US. The fitting part is not that Memorial Day is associated with war deaths, but that it is a good time to remember and honor those who have gone on already.

Peace and love.

Footnote

1. I hope no more of our leaders pass away between the time of this publication and the end of June 2025…else I’ll have to revise this post.