A couple of weeks ago, I posted a brief note on the passing of Richard Wilkins. http://www.uffl.org/blog/2012/11/30/richard-wilkins-passes-away-at-59/ Professor Wilkins, an emeritus professor at BYU Law School, was a strong and devoted defender of the traditional family and the pro-life cause. His colleague Lynn Wardle sent me this note—
“It is with deep sadness that I report the passing of BYU Law School Professor Emeritus Richard Wilkins, who died unexpectedly of heart failure at age 59 in his Provo, Utah home in late November 2012. As a legal scholar and as the former Managing Director of the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development in Qatar, and former Managing Director of the World Family Policy Center at Brigham Young University Law School, Richard was so influential in protecting, preserving and promoting legal respect for marriage, parenting and family in legal policies around the world.
Richard was tireless in his efforts to raise awareness of the value and importance of “traditional” dual-gender marriage, marital parenting, and marital families. Through his BYU Center and Doha Institute, he created wonderful networks of scholars that increased collaboration and effective advocacy. He sponsored and supported important gatherings, conferences, and symposia that brought together the best scholars he could find from all corners of the globe to address current issues relating to families and family policies. He was a gifted and very persuasive writer, contributing many articles and producing numerous books defending, advocating and promoting healthy, happy marriages and marital families. When he worked as an Assistant Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice, he and Rex Lee wrote the brief for the United States in Akron which succeeded in convincing Justice O’Connor to write a dissenting opinion (joined by Justices White and Rehnquist) noting that Roe v. Wade and the Court’s abortion jurisprudence was “on a collision course with itself” and criticizing the trimester-framework adopted in Roe. To get permission to file that brief, they had to go over the head of the AG Meese, who opposed the DOJ taking any positon in the case, and get approval from President Reagan. ”
Here is a link to a story about Professor Wilkins that was published in the Salt Lake Tribune; among other things, the story notes his long-time role as “Scrooge” in theatrical productions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55356433-223/wilkins-family-law-legal.html.csp
Richard M.