On the Death of JRB
by Marc Mangel
Death takes from us in a sudden and sharp way
and leaves a gap in our spirits
that is hard to describe
but the lack of feeling is there
Life gives to us laughter and joy
a knowledge that somewhere
this man who so loves life
is enjoying it
fulfilling it
even if we do not meet often
Death has taken this man
and moved his spirit elsewhere
Our souls feel another
emptiness
some of our depth is gone
and can never be replaced
Life and Death
Death and Life
these are the ways of
man and all creatures
So we must bear up
and
though we feel the emptiness
seek a new
fullness
in this world
14 April 1982
[Julius Blum was hired as the Chair of the Statistics Department at UC Davis in the late 1970s and was one of my
mentors when I first arrived there. He died of a heart attack.]