Published:
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Otis Walter passed away last June at the age of 92. He left his entire estate to the ACLU of Washington and the ACLU of Pennsylvania because he so strongly believed in the broad range of issues on which the ACLU works. He first became a card-carrying member as a teenager in Pennsylvania. Dr. Walter said he did not want any sort of recognition for his planned gift during his lifetime. We wish to honor Dr. Walter as a kind and loving advocate for civil liberties.
Two summers ago, I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Walter in his home to thank him for his wonderful gift intention. He appointed his modest 1970s rambler with furniture straight from an Italian Renaissance painting. It was the real deal and his one splurge – shipped from Italy, inspired by a painting in his childhood home. We talked over tea and his signature dessert, hearty bread made with only fruit and nuts, served in warm milk. Dr. Walter laughed easily and joked throughout our meeting.
He showed me the only photo ever taken of him and Ronald Vrana, his companion of nearly 50 years: the two of them at a party in the ‘60s, pure joy in their eyes, a bookcase in the background.
Most of Dr. Walter’s professional life was spent at the University of Pittsburgh, from which he retired as Professor Emeritus. Retirement brought him to Bellingham. In addition to dozens of articles, book reviews, and lectures at various universities, he authored Thinking and Speaking: A Guide to Intelligent Communication.
Dr. Walter was a devoted teacher who once said, “Teaching is, in part, having desperately to know, and then having desperately to tell others about it.”
The ACLU of Washington is deeply grateful to Otis Walter for his generosity. He was a remarkable man whose legacy will truly have a nationwide impact.
