Gem & Hero

 

On the right wall (just to Watt Espy's left) are about eight framed items.  Right underneath the certificate is a portrait of Victor Streib.  Directly to the left of Streib's portrait is Espy's good friend, Michael Radelet.

Victor Streib is an author, law school professor and death penalty scholar.  He and Watt Espy were friends and collaborators in their unique field.  Upon Streib's retirement as a professor at the Ohio Northern University Law School, a tribute was made to him by the Ohio Northern Law Review.  Several people contributed tribute articles, including Michael Radelet.  Here's an excerpt from Radelet's piece:

Victor Streib once described Espy as “an undisputed gem.”15 As Streib noted in the preface and acknowledgements section of his 1987 book, Death Penalty for Juveniles:

Two individuals deserve special mention. One is a recognized giant in the field of death penalty research, Watt Espy.16 He generously opened his files to me originally when I sought to identify each juvenile execution and has remained a loyal and priceless contributor to this research ever since. Along with so many other death penalty researchers, I have achieved this level in my research only by standing on the shoulders of Watt Espy.17

Espy thought of Streib as a true hero. For the last twenty-five years of his life, Espy had a picture of Streib on the wall over his desk.18

To review the cited sources and to read the rest of Michael Radelet's article as well as the entire tribute to Victor Streib, click here. 

And in an e-mail I received from Victor, he said, "I love the photograph of Watt that you sent to me. He is still my hero!" I had sent him one of these portraits of Uncle Watty.