The Judge, RIP

My first year out of law school, I clerked for a judge in a small town. I applied for several clerkships as I was procrastinating for the Bar Exam and had several interviews. I ended up getting the job in a town 30 miles from my old college town; while it was in a rural area, it was near familiar territory so not too bad.

This week I learned that the judge, who had retired, had been on vacation out of the country and drowned. What a sad thing. He wasn't terribly old and was in good health, so I had fully expected him to live for a good, long time.