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8 Hyde Park Herald, February 26, 2014George Anastaplo, 88George Anastaplo, longtime Hyde Parkresident and law professor, died Feb. 14 ofmetastatic prostate cancer. Anastaplo, whowas 88 at the time of his death, was widelyknown for arguing his own case in front ofthe U.S. Supreme Court.Anastaplo was born Nov. 7, 1925 in St.Louis, Mo., to Greek immigrants TheodoreAnastaplo and Margarita Syriopulou. Afterserving in World War II as a navigator forthe U.S Army Air Corps, he was honorablydischarged in 1947 and attended theUniversity of Chicago, where he receivedboth his B.A. and J.D.Anastaplo passed his bar exam in 1950.However, months later, he was denied fromthe Illinois Bar Association after itsSubcommittee of the Committee onCharacter and Fitness asked him whetherhe was a communist; Anastaplo insistedthe question was irrelevant. TheCommittee voted 11-6 not to admit him.Anastaplo’s appeal made its way to theIllinois Supreme Court and then the U.S.Supreme Court, where he argued his owncase at the age of 35 — and lost.Unable to practice as a lawyer, Anastaploobtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy from theUniversity of Chicago and moved on to acareer in academia where he taught law,political science and philosophy. He was alecturer for the University of Chicago’sBasic Program of Liberal Education forAdults for more than 50 years. He was alsoa professor at Dominican University andthe Loyola University Chicago School ofLaw.“The career he made for himself afterbeing denied from the bar is much moreinteresting than if he’d hadn’t beendenied,” said Barry Sullivan, law professorat Loyola University.Sullivan, who met Anastaplo at a familydinner about 40 years ago, said he has fondmemories of weekday commutes withAnastaplo on the CTA No. 6 Jackson ParkExpress bus.“We’d have great conversations aboutlaw, philosophy, anything,” Sullivan said.“He was passionate about everything, hehad strong views and he had a way ofgetting you to express your own opinions.”Sullivan said Anastaplo was aninspiration to his students at Loyolabecause of the tenacity he showed byrepresenting himself in Supreme Court,returning to school after the ruling andcontinuing to teach even when he learnedSay It!Let us know what you think.of his diagnosis.“He still taught through fall of 2013, andhe was in a lot of pain,” Sullivan said.David Yellen, dean of the law school atLoyola University, said Anastaplo facedhis illness with grace and his greatestdesire was to finish writing a few morebooks before his passing.Anastaplo has published about 20 books,including “The Bible: RespectfulReadings,” “Reflections on Freedom ofSpeech and the First Amendment” and“Plato’s Meno: Translation andCommentary.” Additional books arecurrently being considered for publication.“He was a very delightful and inspiringcolleague,” Sullivan said. “His historymade him iconic but on a personal level hewas a very lively and curious person.”Wendy Doniger, History of Religionsprofessor at the University of Chicago,remembers meeting him about 35 yearsago at one of the many speeches andlectures he gave at the university.“He was a wonderful member of theintellectual community,” said Doniger, whowrote a blurb on the back of one of hisbooks.Chris Colmo, said when he was agraduate student at University of Chicago,Anastaplo would meet up with a group ofstudents in Regenstein Library for bookdiscussions.Colmo said several years later, when heand Anastalpo were team teaching afreshman seminar class at DominicanUniversity — then Rosary College —Anastaplo still had a great connection withstudents though impromptu discussions.“He was great with the older studentswho were returning to college,” Colmosaid. “They’d gather around the lunchtable for discussions.”Anastalpo is survived by his wife SaraPrince Anastaplo, four children and eightgrandchildren.In lieu of flowers, the family asks thatdonations be made to The University ofChicago, and mailed to: The GeorgeAnastaplo Basic Program Lecturer Fund,Graham School of Continuing Liberal andProfessional Studies, The University ofChicago, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL60637.A memorial service will take place at alater date. For more information, call theCremation Society of Illinois at 773-281-5058 or visit cremation-society.com.Send letters to: Editor, Hyde Park Herald1435 E. Hyde Park Blvd., Chicago, IL 60615letters@hpherald.comScience fiction at libraryBy JEFFREY BISHKU-AYKULAssistant to the EditorScience fiction author Nnedi Okorafor willpresent the next Despres Memorial FamilyLecture at Blackstone Library, 4904 S.Blackstone Ave.Okarafor will read from her latest novel“Who Fears Death,” and short storycollection, “Kabu Kabu,” at the event, whichis being hosted by Friends of BlackstoneLibrary (FOBL). Okorafor will alsoparticipate in a Q and A session and booksigning.“I was really excited about being able tobring her because I was aware of her work,”said FOBL President Brenda Sawyer, whofirst saw Okorafor at the DuSable Museumof African American History.Sawyer arranged for Okorafor to arrive byreaching out to Maywood, Ill. bookstoreAfri-Ware, where her work is on sale. “Ithink the most outstanding thing aboutOkorafor is her use of African folklore,”Sawyer said.The expected publication date ofOkorafor’s latest book, “Lagoon,” is April10.FOBL will host three more monthly talksthrough May as part of its DespresMemorial Family Lecture Series.j.bishku@hpherald.comSend your kid’s art to WashingtonBy JEFFREY BISHKU-AYKULAssistant to the EditorU.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-2) will beparticipating in this year’s annualCongressional Art Competition.Her two district offices will be acceptingoriginal artwork from district high schoolersbetween April 14 and 19. On April 26, Kellywill announce a winner whose piece will beexhibited at the U.S. Capitol.THEATERfrom page 7career as Gypsy Rose Lee, arguably themost famous stripper ever (and author ofthe memoir that sparked the musical), theironies come together in the way Griffinpresents her less-than-sensationalstripteases and the fraught motherdaughterconfrontations. Like Pitre, Rushis masterful at betraying a whole range ofemotions at once. While Gypsy claims torelish the trappings of success and firmlyrejects Rose’s attempts at interference, wefeel the anger, pain, eagerness to please,and underlying love that have brought herto this point.Besides assembling a top-notch cast —including Marc Grapey and Matt DeCaroin several minor roles, as well as MillyCallinan, Rengin Altay, and Barbara E.Robertson, who have a ball as the strippersMazeppa, Electra, and Tessie Tura —Griffin has done a terrific job of adaptingwhat was a proscenium-arch show forChicago Shakepeare’s thrust stage andscaling the orchestra to the size of thetheater. Musical director Rick Fox’sadditional orchestrations for the 14“It’s a way to display a little piece of yourdistrict in the nation’s Capitol,” Kelly said.The freshman congresswoman whoreplaced disgraced representative JesseJackson Jr. last April says she “cannot drawa lick‚“ but enjoys visiting museums.To submit a work of art this spring, makean appointment with Kelly’s Chicago office,1000 E. 111th St., or Matteson office, 600Holiday Plaza Dr.j.bishku@hpherald.commusicians (down from the originalproduction’s 28), who are on a raisedplatform across the back of the stage,simulate the musical feel of the erabetween World War I and World War IIwithout sacrificing any of the sound.Kevin Depinet’s inventive scenicdesign, enhanced by Philip S.Rosenberg’s lighting, starts with anoversize, curvy, gilded proscenium thatvaguely resembles a giant mouth orwomb. Red velvet curtains create a stagewithin-a-stageas needed, whileaccouterments suspended from theceiling lower to augment simple sets andprops. The costume demands areformidable, partly because of the manyquick changes, and Virgil C. Johnson hashandled them with aplomb and relativelyfew compromises in authenticity.In recent years, local companies rangingfrom Court Theatre to Writers Theatre inGlencoe have devoted more and moreattention to musicals. At first I wonderedwhy they would bother given all theresources at the command of the bigtouring productions. But Griffin’s “Gypsy”for Chicago Shakespeare has somethingthese road shows rarely do: acting that’s asdeep and compelling as in any play.