renegade all the way...

yesterday's post and comments on the SYNCHRONICITY blog of the macgregors, regarding "untimely" deaths finds me remembering even more than usual the very unusual and especially untimely death of an old friend of mine in shreveport louisiana -

i first met graves thomas through a dear friend of mine many moons ago - early 80's - my friend and graves were both local attorneys known as "those renegade/maverick lawyers" because they took cases that no other attorney would take - those involving civil rights violations, reputed crime figures, drug smugglers, white collar criminals - you name it and if a wrong had been done, an injustice imposed, my friend and graves were there - they lived up to their tags as renegades or mavericks - and these tags even did not do them justice - in a court room they were poetry in motion - in real life outside the court room, they were just as beautiful - both in their early 40's, their charisma and charm were surpassed only by their passion - their passion about everything around them - the law - their clients - seeking justice no matter the cost personal or financial - passion for their friends and family - for good food and drink and good times - fast cars - and then there was their renegade/mavericks good looks - both long haired - both gorgeous men - suntanned - dressed in the pin stripe suits of the day - they both partipated in all the extreme sports - when they walked into a court room or any other room, that room had been walked into like never before - they were the golden boys -

the memorial day weekend of 1987 was to be another weekend at lake bistineau - a weekend of fun and sun and boats and skiing and swimming and good food - and graves had a new ski boat to take out - so off they went - then, when the weather changed from good to not good, they brought the boat in - during that process, as talk was made of the thunderstorm overhead while they were docking, graves, being graves, stood up, threw both arms into the air and shouted to the heavens, "HERE I AM!" - and at that very moment a lightning bolt struck him in the head, killing him instantly -

to make this story even more interesting, at the time of his death on lake bistineau, graves was representing a lake bistineau man accused of recklessness in a boating accident that killed three people on that very lake that same month -

and one more tidbit in the graves story is that at the time of his death, he had also just been hired by the family of a man accused of child rape whose criminal trial had not yet taken place - ultimately this accused man was convicted of the crime and went to jail where he stayed for 22 years - until he was exonerated when the paralegal who had been working for graves at the time of his death years later persevered to have the man's dna submitted and it was found not to match any dna associated with the crime -

so there you have the many curious but not surprising facets of one man's life and legacy -