Why Do We Wait?

AS THE SUN SETS ON ANOTHER CHAPTER OF LIFE

I am moving from Dallas to the D. C. area (Falls Church, Virginia). I lived in Dallas only 18 months. I had moved from San Antonio.

Now, demographically, San Antonio and Dallas might as well be on different planets. As I continually told people when I was in Europe, who wanted to know how things were done in "America," or how "Americans" folded their napkins -- there is no such thing as "America," in the sense that they mean. The folding of the napkin, even the existence of the napkin at all, varies widely from Le Batre, Louisiana to Billings, Montana, to Wesport, Connecticut, to Portland, Oregon.

That having been said, generally speaking the farther south you go, and the more toward an ocean, the warmer and gentler things become. Dallas is land-locked smack in the middle of the huge state of Texas. It is "Dutch" - like New York City - established with commerce, business, as the primary focus.

So, back to my story. I've lived here 18 months and moved around. Went to the same stores, restaurants, PO, exercise club. Was greeted peremptorily - everyone greets the customer these days, don't they? I felt not welcome, but not UN-welcome either. Kind of ghost-like. Same with my apartment. Quiet, clean, not much flavor to it, but an easy place to live, an easy place to function from, i.e., "doin' bidness." People looked up and nodded, sometimes said "hello" or "howdy."

Now I am leaving, and there has been occasion to tell the people at the Tetco on the corner, and Mezza Luna, the great Italian restaurant behind the UPS, and my apt. manager, and all of a sudden I have been "noticed." Many have seemed upset and sad I was leaving. I mean, genuinely. They say how much they will miss me. Someone asked my name - for the first time. Some hope that I will return. Nameless for months, I suddenly have a name.

ISo what's my point? I am doing a booklet for a family reunion we are having in D.C., centered around the SEC Historical Society's Anniversary Dinner, because my father, Ray Garrett, Jr. was a former chairman of the SEC. We are privately going to honor him at this public celebration. Within his papers, while doing research for this booklet, I found the following.

In 1971, his father, Ray Garrett, was presented with a major award from the American Bar Association. Ray Garrett Sr. had chaired the committee that revised the Model Business Corporations Act. In the trade it would be said, "he wrote it." This work was finished in the mid- 60s, and Ray, Sr. died in 1969. Revising the Model Corporation Act will always be considered Ray Garrett Sr.'s greatest contribution to the field, and also a great contribution to the field.

Ray Jr. went to receive the posthumous award to his father. A newspaper reporter interviewed him.

Reporter: What do you think about your father getting that award?
Ray Garrett, Jr.: It was nice. It would have been nicer if it had happened when he was alive.

Res ipse loquitur.

Memorial Day Tribute

RAY GARRETT, JR. WITH HIS GRANDSON MARSHALL DUNN

Artilleryman digging in their howitzer in Germany in the spring of 1945.

My father, RAY GARRETT, JR. served in the 264th Field Artillery batallion, First Army.

 Helped to liberate Paris
 Was the first to breach the Siegfried Line
 Captured the city of Aachen
 Hodge's army (Dad's 264th)bore the full weight of the German counteroffensive through the Ardennes (December 1944)
 Held the northern portion of the American lines in the ensuing Battle of the Bulge.
 Captured the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen in March 1945
 Was the first Allied Artillery to cross the Rhine into Germany
 Landed at Omaha Beach 30 days after D-Day
 Eventually got to Munich in Patton's Army

Dad entered at the age of 24 as a Lieutenant. Was promoted to Captain and got the Bronze Star.

We will honor my father at our family table at the SEC Historical Society dinner in June in Washington, D. C. Ray Garrett, Jr. was the 19th chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Speech by Ray Garrett Jr., former chairman of the SEC

RAY GARRETT, JR. (Center), FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE SEC

The 75th anniversary of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is approaching and the SEC Historical Society is giving a dinner in June. Our family has purchased a table at the dinner in June and we will have our own personal celebration of the chairmanship of Ray Garrett, Jr., my father, the 40th chairman of the SEC.

In light of the Madoff scandal and other current happenings, here is an excerpt of a speech by Ray Garrett, Jr., then chairman of the SEC, given to THE
SAN DIEGO MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION, July 2, 1974 in San Diego, California.

Some problems seem always to be with us. One of them is the matter of enforcement of our laws and the suppression of fraud. Businessmen sometimes complain that SEC Commissioners are always talking about fraud, creating the public impression that American business generally is run by a bunch of crooks. Obviously, that is not a correct impression. If it were - - if crooks really dominated our business community - - the task of the Commission would be utterly hopeless. The only reason our system works at all is because voluntary compliance is the norm and non-compliance the aberration.

Furthermore, all violations of the securities laws cannot fairly be characterized as fraud. Perhaps we use the word too loosely.

Nevertheless, there are some crooks in business and some fraud continues to be committed, and in this area, as in others, the policeman’s lot is not a happy one. Quite naturally the instances of fraud, when exposed, attract the most attention. In a sense I wish some of them would attract more attention. Some types of fraud depend upon credulous investors who really should know better.

The two most recent cases to attract nation-wide attention - - Home-Stake Oil and the industrial wine fraud - - were both variations on the classical Ponzi scheme. The first investors were paid off out of the proceeds of sales to later investors and nothing, or very little, was ever invested in the supposed business.

The facts in Home-Stake go back several years, and the case is receiving current attention only because the Chapter X trustee recently submitted a list of the names and amounts of the investors. It is a most illustrious list of leaders of industry and finance. At least those who have lost money in Home-Stake have the dubious satisfaction of being in elegant company.

The wine fraud centered in the Washington, D. C., area and it included among its victims some local bank presidents. The scheme was to corner the market in Portugal for cheap “industrial” wine - - a non-existent item in the wine industry - - and import it for sale to U.S. canners of salad dressings, etc. Investors were offered something like double their money in a year. You would like to think that a promoter offering a chance to double your money in a year in the Portuguese industrial wine market simply would be laughed at. But, of course, many people did double their money - - as long as the promoter was able to keep selling enough notes to produce funds to pay off the earlier ones.

I like reading the reminder that fraud is the exception to the rule ... and also the caveat emptor -- the "buyer beware." It is so hard to remember that - in business, in romance, in any aspect of life -- if it seems too good to be true, IT IS.

The Makings of a Teacher: Ray Garrett, Jr., Chairman, SEC

Ray Garrett Jr. served as Chairman of the SEC, 1973-75. We plan to have a table for him, and commemorative page honoring him in the program at the SEC's 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for the Securities Exchange Commission, June 25, 2009.

Let us know of your interest in participating. Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc .
----------------
In October 26, 1974, Ray Garrett, Jr. gave a speech at the Dean's Day Program of the NY University Law School, where he received the Distinguished Citizen Award. Ray Garrett Jr. had taught there in the summer of 1950.

"LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY"
THE OPENING PAGES OF THIS SPEECH AND OTHERS, GIVING A PERSONAL IMPRESSION OF RAY GARRETT, JR., HAVE BEEN GRACIOUSLY PROVIDED BY HARVEY L. PITT.

An Address by
Ray Garrett, Jr., Chairman
Securities and Exchange Commission

Presented before
DEAN'S DAY PROGRAM
New York University Law School
Distinguished Citizen Award
October 26, 1974
New York City

This is a time for remembrance for me. My inclination to reminisce could easily exceed your tolerance, and I do not intend to search the limits of the latter. But I cannot stand here this afternoon, having received this most gratifying honor, without being full of recollections of my brief but rewarding formal association with New York University Law School.

I came down here from Cambridge in July, 1950, as the direct result of the persuasive powers of then Dean Russell Niles. I had stayed on a fourth year at Harvard as a teaching fellow, participating in the development of its group work program for first year law students. Dean Niles was interested in a similar program here, and I therefore had an attraction to him for that purpose. Furthermore, he was offering the then generous salary of $5,000 for the year, plus the opportunity to earn extras. With three small children, my wife and I could not afford to be indifferent to money.

We settled in the original Levittown, where some of my classmates were already living [there], and I made the acquaintance of the Long Island Railroad and commuting from Wantaugh. To help pay for the move, I was allowed to take over the second half of the summer night school course on civil procedure -- my half to be code pleading. Since that subject had produced my lowest mark as a student, the assignment was a challenging one such as only a hungry man with a hungry family would accept.

The course was scheduled for two nights a week in the old loft building around the corner. The older gentleman who had taught common law pleading for the first half of the summer, and who obviously had a strong distaste for such irresponsible innovations as code pleading and young squirts, introduced me to the class with that charming observation that you can always tell a Harvard man but you can't tell him much, and mercifully disappeared -- from my sight if not from my memory. Whereupon the class talked me into collapsing our two nightly sessions into one night a week for three hours.

So I began my formal teaching experience talking from seven to ten p.m. on sultry August nights on a subject that I had scarcely mastered, to 20 or 30 sleepy people, in a dreary room on the eighth floor of the old building with no air conditioning, and all the sounds and smells and soot blowing in through the open window. It was not the best way to teach or learn the law, but it was an effective test of stamina, and it made what came afterwards comparatively easy.

My first regular course for the day students came in the fall, and the subject was contracts -- something I felt more comfortable with than procedure. Here I thought I could start some kids off right with the tough Socratic method. Our first case was Hawkins v. McGee, of loving memory to a generation of law students weaned on Professor Fuller's casebook**, and I called on some poor, miserable soul toward the back of the large class to state the case. Naturally, everything he said was wrong and much of it foolish, which I made very clear to the class as I kept him nakedly exposed and suffering for half the period.

When it was over, I returned to my office in glowing satisfaction at such a fine beginning. Shortly afterwards, then Associate Dean Ralph Bischof invited me down to his office to discuss my first class and how it had gone. I gave him a glorious report which he listened to patiently and then said, "Ray, that first-year student has just left here and won't be back. He just resigned, saying he didn't come here to be embarrassed and publicly insulted."

"Well, Dean," I said, "with such a thin skin he probably would never make it as a lawyer."

"Possibly," replied Ralph, "but Ray, he was a Phi Beta in Philosophy from Columbia and had a very high LSAT score. Please don't scare away all of our more promising students."

It's awful what young and inexperienced teachers can do. No one had really ever been that cruel to me, and I was ashamed. I have often wished since then that young man has found a rewarding life elsewhere and has been able to forgive me.

That was all in the old building. The next year we moved to the new. No one who did not live through the transition can quite appreciate the excitement it produced. It was far more than an improvement in physical comfort. It brought with it the promise of great things to come, and they have come. I left for the practice in Chicago the next year, so I didn't stay around to help very long, but the school has become everything that Arthur Vanderbilt....

For full speech go HERE or copy and paste:
http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/1974/102674garrett.pdf

**From a blog about The Paperchase:

Who Was the Basis for Professor Kingsfield? (from Todd)

Can anyone tell me who was the basis for Professor Kingsfield's character in "The Paper Chase"? Kingsfield, of course, does the famous "hairy hand" case of Hawkins v. McGee in the first day of class. So presumably he is using Fuller's casebook on contracts, which as I understand it, used to begin with remedies. To the best of my knowledge during that age, Fuller's casebook was the only one that began with remedies. Did all Contracts professors at Harvard used Fuller's casebook during that era? ...So I assume hat Kingsfield was using Fuller's casebook, but was Fuller the inspiration for Kingsfield's character? See rest of the string HERE.

Ray Garrett, Jr. went on to become a wonderful teacher (ask me, his daughter) ... "While Ray was achieving greatness, he simultaneously taught the rest of us with a kind, measured demeanor. Few men possess such rare abilities and fewer still choose to employ them." (Jim Reynolds, American Bakeries Company)

Ray Garrett was known for his emotional intelligence.

"Ray was infected with the notion that collegiality was something to be sought." (Al Sommers)

ON CHOOSING AN SEC CHAIRMAN: Ray Garrett, Jr., a healer and a consensus builder

'You want someone who is technically proficient,' said Joel Seligman, the dean of the Washington University law school in St. Louis and a historian of the S.E.C. 'This is a very hard job to learn.'

Mr. Seligman pointed to the 1973 appointment of Ray Garrett Jr., a highly respected securities lawyer, after his predecessor, G. Bradford Cook, was forced out as a result of a scandal that made his honesty suspect. 'That is the kind of person you want, probably someone with an accomplished career in securities law, someone who will be a healer and a consensus builder,' Mr. Seligman said...."

Contact Susan Garrett Dunn, sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information. See memorial website here by his daughter, Nancy: http://www.theintrovertzcoach.com/rgj.html .

Ray Garrett - his contribution as chairman of the SEC

I traded some stock today at Charles Schwab and remembered that a low-cost provider that allows 'the little guy' to trade stocks as easily as we have all become accustomed to doing was only made possible by the efforts of Ray Garrett, former chairman of the SEC. His birthday was August 11.

[the article is entitled "the man under whom it will all shake down."]

Interview with Roderick Hills, 12/2/02: "The White House deregulated commission rates, and while Ray Garrett at the Commission deserves all the credit for that, the fact is that President Ford and Alan Greenspan were strong supporters of that ..."

We will be honoring Ray Garrett at The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society's 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for the SEC Commission and staff, government officials, and industry representatives on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

Ray Garrett, Jr. passed on in February 1980. He emceed a previous anniversary dinner and wouldn’t have missed this one for all the tea in China -- nor the personal archives and roundtables that the Historical Society has promoted since its inception. He loved the SEC, the law, his family, and his colleagues, whose names were legion.

Of Ray Garrett, Jr.’s Chairmanship, Commissioner Al Sommer later remarked:

“Certainly it is not an exaggeration to say that Ray was one of the most dearly beloved people ever to serve on the commission. You could walk the halls day after day and never hear a word of criticism of him, professionally or personally; never hear his integrity, or even his judgment, questioned; never
hear his leadership criticized.” — A. A. Sommer, Jr.

At this time we are beginning to approach all of Ray’s friends and colleagues to give them an opportunity to participate in hosting or sponsoring a place at the banquet table to honor RAY GARRETT'S MEMORY.

Ray Garrett, Jr. had four children; Me (Susan Garrett Dunn), Nancy Garrett Worcester, Anne Garrett Norloff and Richard Hale Garrett. He has eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Please contact Susan Dunn sdunn@susandunn.cc for details on how you can join us in honoring Ray’s memory and in the meantime be sure to save this date on your calendar:

JUNE 25 2009

THE SEC 75TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER

. . .
A WAY TO HONOR RAY GARRETT, JR.
and his personal and professional contributions to our lives.

MR. BOOKEY: “The other thing that hasn’t quite been mentioned — the real
privilege I had, we had — all of us, we had what was called “The Dream
Commission.” “And The Dream Commission was when Ray Garrett was the chairman, and Irv was on the Commission, and Phil Loomis, and Al Sommer and John Evans, and they were the best. The absolute best. Stanley was the director. And they were smart. They were aggressive. They were energetic. It was leadership, and we loved it.

“And looking back, that was the prime time, folks. That was the prime
time.”

_______________________________________
Let's make it a date to remember. Contact sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information.

Shooting stars - the Perseids are coming

Do you remember watching shooting stars when you were a kid? Well get ready folks, here it comes.

THE PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER will peak August 11

Famous birthdays, August 11

• Ray Garrett, Jr., former chairman of the SEC
• Arlene Dahl, actress
• Hulk Hogan, wrestler

This spectacular display of SHOOTING STARS that occurs every summer is named Perseids because it appears to come from the constellation, Perseus. It began around July 23rd, with one meteor per hour. There will be about 50-80 per hour by August 11-13.

It is believed that dreams come true on the night of the shooting stars.

ABOUT METEORS

Meteors are bits of debris left behind by comets. The Perseid is from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, the largest object known to make repeated passes near the Earth. It's nucleus, about 6 miles across, is "roughly equal to the object that wiped out dinosaurs." (www.space.com).

The shooting stars are fast. They enter the Earth’s atmosphere at over 133,000 mph. They range in size from a grain of sand to peas and marbles. When they hit the ground (rare), they are called meteorites.

When the Perseid particle enters the atmosphere, it compresses the air in front of it, which heats up. The meteor can become more than 3,000 degrees. This intense heat then vaporizes the meteors, creating what we call SHOOTING STARS.

From space.com:

Some large meteors splatter, causing a brighter flash called a fireball, and sometimes an explosion that can often be heard from the ground.

The Swift-Tuttle has a 13- year orbit around the Sun. Each time it has left a trail, and each trail has meteors. The best time to view is pre-dawn. This year, there will be a bright moon (gibbous) which will set about 1:30 a.m. Then the sky will be dark enough for good observation. The show began around July 17th, but the full moon interfered with vision. There will be about 10 other showers going on at the same time, including the Kappa Cygnids.

So get out your quilt and head for the hills/boat/park and catch a falling star. Put it on your pillow and watch ...

Photo credit: wikimedia commons

Honor Ray Garrett, Jr at SEC 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner, June 25, 2009

“While Ray was achieving greatness, he simultaneously taught the rest of us with a kind, measured demeanor. Few men posses such rare abilities and fewer still choose to employ them.” - - Jim Reynolds, American Bakeries Company

June 25, 2009 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for the Securities Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society will host a 75th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for the SEC Commission and staff, government officials, and industry representatives on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

This event honors the history of the SEC, founded in 1934 by President Roosevelt. Joe Kennedy was the first Chairman of the SEC. My father, Ray Garrett, Jr., was the 19th Chairman, serving from 1973 to 1975.

The dinner will be held in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. According to Carla Rosati of the SEC Historical Society, institutions are welcome to purchase a table and include a congratulatory message, with name and logo, in the program book to be distributed to all guests and added to the museum collections.

Ray Garrett, Jr. passed on in February 1980. He emceed a previous anniversary dinner and wouldn’t have missed this one for all the tea in China, nor the personal archives and roundtables that the Historical Society has promoted since its inception. He loved the SEC, the law, his family, and his colleagues, whose names were legion.

Of Ray Garrett, Jr.’s Chairmanship, Commissioner Al Sommer later remarked:

“Certainly it is not an exaggeration to say that Ray was one of the most dearly beloved people ever to serve on the Commission. You could walk the halls day after day and never hear a word of criticism of him, professionally or personally; never hear his integrity, or even his judgment, questioned; never hear his leadership criticized.”

— A. A. Sommer, Jr.

At this time we are beginning to approach all of Ray’s friends and colleagues to give them an opportunity to participate in hosting or sponsoring a place at the banquet table to honor RAY’S MEMORY.

Ray Garrett, Jr. had four children; Me (Susan Dunn), Nancy Worcester, Anne Norloff and Richard Garrett. He has eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Please contact Susan Dunn sdunn@susandunn.cc for details on how you can join us in honoring Ray’s memory and in the meantime be sure to save this date on your calendar:

JUNE 25 2009 THE SEC 75TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
A WAY TO HONOR RAY GARRETT, JR. and his personal and professional contributions to our lives.

MR. BOOKEY: “The other thing that hasn’t quite been mentioned — the real privilege I had, we had — all of us, we had what was called “The Dream Commission.”

“And The Dream Commission was when Ray Garrett was the chairman, and Irv was on the Commission, and Phil Loomis, and Al Sommer and John Evans, and they were the best. The absolute best. Stanley was the director. And they were smart. They were aggressive. They were energetic. It was leadership, and we loved it.

“And looking back, that was the prime time, folks. That was the prime time.”

_________________________________________________

Let's make it a date to remember.
Contact sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information.