An inspiration for justice and for living

MY FATHER, Eli Segal, died Monday, Presidents' Day. It was a fitting day to conclude a life dedicated to public service and social justice. It was a life spent trying to elect a Democrat to the highest office in the land, to make the country a better place for all, and to promote the values of equality and opportunity that he learned at a young age from his father.

There were many accomplishments in my dad's life. After a successful business career, he succeeded in helping elect Bill Clinton, and he was the architect of two of the president's core initiatives: the Welfare to Work Partnership and AmeriCorps. He created a legacy of social service for the young and fighting for employment for the poor.

But what I consider to be my father's most lasting legacy and greatest accomplishment, above his business and political triumphs, was that family and friends always came first to him. It is these beautifully rich and loving relationships he built over 63 years that best define my father's life. And it came back to him in spades with the enormous outpouring of love and support from his vast network of friends, hundreds of whom considered my dad to be their best friend, and the nonstop vigil that we had at his bedside over these last few weeks.

We wouldn't leave his side through these times, because Dad never left ours during his life. He would do anything for his wife, children, grandchildren, and friends. He might have the president on the phone, or a meeting scheduled with a senator, or an important board meeting to attend, but if his son had a basketball game or his daughter had a big gymnastics meet, all else would have to wait.

I'll never forget the days when he was deep at work in Washington to build AmeriCorps, and I came to him with a business idea for a magazine that celebrated the world of high school sports. He was swamped with other things more important, but he dropped them all and helped me construct this company. Always supportive and dedicated to my vision, he made me feel as though the idea was the greatest business plan he had ever seen.

It was his way: His optimism was infectious. Almost a decade later, thanks in large part to his tireless assistance, SchoolSports magazine has grown to a circulation of 910,000 and can be found in 6,500 high schools across the country.

In remembering the man, the most significant part that needs to be emphasized was his relationship to our mother, Phyllis. Their marriage was a partnership in the truest sense of the word. To see their love grow through good times and bad, to see them develop into best friends, to see them by each other's side through these incredibly difficult last few months, was to see how marriage is supposed to work.

Larry Brown, a family friend, wrote to us that the wish to live a few more days is understandable, but just a blink in time. To live on in the hearts of the people you know is much more, and to live on in the hearts of people you've never met is the definition of forever.

Whether you knew him or not, the memory of Eli Segal will live forever because he made a difference in his country. Generations of people to come will be inspired by his work to continue the fight for social justice. But for those who knew him, especially those in the inner circle of his family, forever is much more simple and profound. We'll never forget his overwhelming kindness to family, friends, and strangers alike, his belief in the good that all people possess, and his generosity of spirit.

Forever starts today, as we lay my father to rest. It is now incumbent on each of us to continue his legacy by spreading the kindness, generosity, and optimism that defined his life and made such a tremendous difference in the lives of so many.

Jonathan Segal is editor in chief of SchoolSports magazine.