I promised not to be too serious on this blog, so instead I’ll share this one-panel Far Side comic from about 38 years ago. It’s about grizzlies from hell, but it’s about so much more.
As it happens, this comic is particularly appropriate today. You see, in late July 1987, a day after it first appeared in the Chicago Tribune, I took the Illinois bar exam. On the first morning the bar — it’s a two-day affair in Illinois — a group of friends and colleagues gathered for breakfast before heading to various locations throughout the city to sit for the exam. Among those who gathered that morning was Bon Foster, a colleague from Jenner & Block, where we began our legal careers. Bon and I officed near one another and were friends, chatting nearly every day.
Anyway, on the morning of the first day of the 1987 Illinois bar exam, when most of us were more anxious than we had ever been, Bon was in a lighthearted mood. When he arrived at breakfast, he showed me this Far Side comic, which he had clipped from the Tribune the day before. “Here,” he said, “I thought of you when I saw this.”
As I recall, a few of us first-year lawyers at Jenner had a habit of using the phrase “from hell,” as in, “lawyers from hell,” “partners from hell,” “clients from hell.” You get the picture.
So Bon saw that comic and said to himself, “Dave will think this is funny.”
Not, “Oh, my God, I have to take the bar exam tomorrow.” Not, “this is the single most stressful thing I will ever have to do.” Not, “what if I don’t pass?!”
Nope, none of that. Just, oh, hey, I should clip this Far Side comic out of the newspaper and bring it to my friend.
Mind you, it wasn’t arrogance or carelessness. It was Bon. Cool, calm, collected, centered. I’m not entirely sure how you describe it, because I’ve never experienced it a day in my life. But Bon had his act together, so much so that he had the composure to think to share a funny comic strip with a friend on the morning of the bar exam.
Like so many promising young gay men at that time, Robert Bon Foster died far too young. He passed away in 1991, just four years after we took the bar exam, at the age of 36.
1991 was a rough year. I lost my brother John that year, too. But today, at a time when the community is under attack and the most powerful people in America want us to forget the more than 700,000 Americans who died from AIDS, I want to remember my friend Bon. He was a good, decent person. He was incredibly smart. He was a great lawyer.
And he should still be here with us.
* * * *
When Bon Foster passed away, his estate bequeathed a gift to Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a great organization that fights for LGBTQ+ rights. With it, Lambda Legal established its first office outside of New York City, the Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. Every year, the Chicago office hosts a fundraising event in Bon Foster’s honor, and Jennifer and I have been fortunate enough to serve on the host committee for the past two years. We’ve also made some lifelong friends at Lambda Legal, in Chicago and elsewhere.
If you’re so inclined, Lambda Legal could use your help. Please consider donating here.
Elvis Ate Dynamite 
Leave a comment