Anthony Lewis / Selfless Wives

When was the last time you read about a man retiring from an important post because he wanted to spend more quality time with his ailing/dying wife? Unless there was a sex scandal involved and he suddenly rediscovered his family, that is.

Ok, there is an actuarial reality that women live longer than men. Presumably that means men not only die sooner, but they get sick and start circling the drain sooner. But it is still a good question.

I'm thinking of Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired from the Supreme Court in 2005 to take care of her husband as he was eaten alive by Alzheimer's. Long before he died in 2009 he reportedly didn't even recognize his wife and children and had in fact found a new love with a fellow patient. So now Sandra Day O'Connor is a private citizen and we're stuck with Samuel Alito for gawd knows how long.

In Massachusetts, the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, Margaret H. Marshall, resigned at the end of 2010 to spend more time with her ailing husband, Anthony Lewis, who was suffering from Parkinson's. Or as she is quoted as saying, "so that Tony and I may enjoy our final seasons together."

At least O'Connor is getting up in years, although, at 83, she would still be practically a youngster in Supreme Court lifespans.  Marshall, on the other hand, retired at the young age of 66. As of Lewis's death today, both are now widows.

If I have more than a passing interest in the Supreme Court, it is at least partially due to Anthony Lewis's columns. I regret that I never read any of his books, although they're still in print (and ebook), so there is still time.

In my memory, Anthony Lewis is probably more responsible than any other person for keeping the genocide in Bosnia in the public eye. I haven't read any of the books dealing with the Clinton decision to finally intervene, but I have always believed the intervention was hugely influenced by Lewis who, alone among the opinionaters of the day, refused to let the issue disappear.  And yet, the three-page obituary in the NY Times does not once mention Bosnia or Lewis's personal crusade to get the world to take notice. I am stunned.