Michael Goldsmith; professor raised ALS awareness; at 58

The cause was respiratory failure from ALS, according to his son, Austen Goldsmith. Professor Goldsmith died in a hospice at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, N.Y., where he had been living since early August. Professor Goldsmith, the Woodruff J. Deem professor of law at Brigham Young University, spent his final three years fighting the same disease that struck Gehrig in 1939 and has come to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord,’’ according to the ALS Association.

After the diagnosis in 2006, Professor Goldsmith, a New Yorker who grew up rooting for the Baltimore Orioles, attended a fantasy camp run by the Orioles. In November 2008, he wrote a guest column in Newsweek, calling on Major League Baseball to do more to fight the disease that killed Gehrig on June 2, 1941.

In response, MLB held ceremonies on July 4, 2009, the 70th anniversary of Gehrig’s speech in which he said he was “the luckiest man on the face of the earth.’’ In 15 major league stadiums, teams and fans were encouraged to donate money.

Professor Goldsmith flew in from Utah with his family to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Accompanied by his son, Professor Goldsmith stood near home plate and made an underhanded flip to Mark Teixeira, the Yankees’ first baseman.

A native of Israel who grew up in New York City, Professor Goldsmith had continued to teach at Brigham Young after the ALS was diagnosed.

“I have spent more than two decades exhorting law students to take a proactive ‘can do’ approach to the law and life in general,’’ Goldsmith wrote via e-mail in late June. “And I have tried to lead by example, showing them how creativity and commitment to a cause can produce positive results. The success of this effort demonstrates yet again how ‘the power of one’ can make a difference.’’