I met Bert just at the end of a MSU event in which Malcolm X spoke. When the white stage moderator interrupted Malcolm by saying "Sorry, but your time is up". Malcolm took the microphone back and said "MY time is up?" and the audience cheered. I saw what looked like another student afterwards, dressed in a sweater and jeans, surrounded by a group of students. Not much older than me, he was explaining "what Malcolm X really meant" in his speech. I broke in and said, maybe too aggressively, "I think he said exactly what he meant. Why is any interpretation needed?" To this the guy in the sweater had a surprising reaction. He smiled and said "We should talk. Who are you?" That was Bert's way - to get his attention you needed to challenge him, an approach I had a large supply of at the time. When I found out he was a new psychology professor I anticipated trouble but, of course, we became good friends. I wound up auditing all his courses that quarter, including ones I'd already had. In addition to bootlegging the clinical psychology curriculum (a closed shop otherwise) in this way I also learned a certain style of teaching that I soon modeled in my own career. He eventually wrote for my own later book Trauma Psychology in Context as well. A prolific friend.

At our age, health can shrink the size of our immediate universe and in this way opportunities also diminish until eventually achieving zero. Bert kept his universe expanding until the very end. I suppose that's why we are trying to follow him in this as well.