Hello friends,
 The passing of Paul Frantz certainly is sad news.  Over the last
3 years or so, I (and many others) have watched and hoped and prayed as
Paul battled his cancer.   We missed him at ALSB meetings and other
regional and international law events.  Two different years he called me
right before the annual meeting to tell me that while he had hoped to
attend, he needed to go for some additional treatment or stem cell
procedure or something at the last moment, and asked me to fill in for
him on some of his International section duties.
  As Dan said, Paul was a kind, gentle man--one of the "good guys."
He was a fine scholar, good colleague, and active member of the ALSB.
He always made positive contributions to whatever group he was in.
Whenever I would call or e-mail him (not nearly as often as I now wish I
had done), he would tell me he had encountered some setbacks, but was
"getting better."  I am glad that Dan visited him recently, and I wish I
had done the same.
  As a native of Montana, Paul often attended the Pacific Northwest
regionals and was a good friend to all of us there, as he was to those
in California and the Southwest region.   And it will be especially hard
for us in the International section to lose Paul and all the
contributions he made to the section.    For folks like me, who have
invested much time in both the International Section and the Northwest
Region, it has been a very difficult year--Paul's death follows way too
closely after losing Ray August earlier in the year--two of the most
active, most positive members we have had in both of those
organizations.
   I am thinking a lot about both those gentlemen today, and trying to
ponder what message I should take away.  Both of them were decent, kind
men, very accomplished scholars in American and international law.  Both
of them were sincere, never cynical or sarcastic--they did not put other
people down, they encouraged us.  But even more, they eagerly embraced
the world as a whole and both believed that people were similar all over
the world.  They both continued to learn more about history, culture and
law all over the world, and encouraged us all to experience more and
learn more about other nations and people.  I have previously commented
on Ray, and now it must be said again--Paul will certainly be missed.
My best wishes to his family and colleagues.
       Michael Bixby