A Penguin in the Orchard

A Truly Good Guy

I was stunned today to read about the passing of Eli Segal more than a month ago. He died at 63 of mesothelioma, a rare asbestos-related lung cancer. I’d heard nothing about his death before today.

This piece by Jonathan Alter is much more articulate about Eli’s legacy than I could hope to be. He describes a dinner with Eli shortly after Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992 - a campaign managed by Segal.

… but I remember having dinner with Segal in Little Rock not long after Clinton’s victory and learning to my surprise that he had no interest in a major post in the new administration. Instead, he wanted to use his entrepreneurial skills to help Clinton fulfill his campaign promise to create a national service program. He was given a tiny office and no money but within months he established the Corporation for National Service, which became Americorps. By structuring the program with local control and managing it carefully, Segal built a base of political support and gave an idea loathed by Republicans a fighting chance of success.

That some 400,000 young adults have served in AmeriCorps is legacy enough for Eli Segal.

As you know, though, I worked the Clark campaign in 2004, as a coder in the headquarters in Little Rock. I spoke with Eli, Clark’s campaign chairman, on more than one occasion. One incident, in particular, stands out.

It was an elevator ride in the slowest elevator on the planet, just after I’d come to the campaign for good. I’d returned to Little Rock with just enough in my Escort to survive in an apartment shared with another campaign worker. Before returning to Little Rock, I’d kept the edgy feeling going by watching “The War Room,” the definitive documentary about the 1992 Clinton campaign. On that day in Little Rock, in the time between the 4th floor of Union Station and the 1st floor, I’d remarked to Eli about his role in the movie. He chuckled, dismissed the comment with humility and asked where I was from. In other words, he turned the conversation away from himself to a subject that really interested him - other people. It’s a quality you don’t often find in political operatives.

His legacy will live on, but his selfless spirit will be missed.