Whether you loved him or hated him, you to to respect the guts he had.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian died this morning at the age of 83 at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. The physician, who became an advocate for assisted suicides and helped dozens of people perform them, served eight years of a prison term for the murder of Thomas Youk, a Waterford man who was unable to press the button to inject the deadly chemicals that would take his life. Kevorkian would be found guilty of murder and sentenced to 10-25 years in prison.
With me being a Royal Oak native, Kevorkian was talked about a bit more than normal in the city. He would always be found downtown, walking the streets wearing his trademark sweater-vest. His art was in a gallery downtown, and while I never saw it, I heard he had some skills with a paintbrush.
One day, in the summer of 2008, I went to the Royal Oak Post Office to mail something to my girlfriend who lived up north at the time. As I walked in, I saw a little man chatting it up with the worker behind the counter. Sure enough, it was Kevorkian.
I'd never seen him in person before. My parents had, but not me. It kind of became an urban legend.
He was in the midst of running for Congress in the 9th District, which is now represented by Gary Peters. He collected a good chunk of his signatures there, as did most people who wanted something or someone on the ballot.
He came in, and I just listened intently to his conversation, without looking too obvious as to what I was doing.
"Do you collect signatures?" the woman behind the counter asked him.
"Yup, I'm on the ballot," he said, swinging his hand in happiness.
Kevorkian had been such a polarizing figure during my childhood, especially with Court TV (remember that?) airing his trial. It was on the whole time in my house as my mom watched it closely. And now, here I was, feet from a convicted murderer, and one of the most internationally-known Royal Oakers of all time, and he was a short, little old man wearing a derby hat and coat. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed.
Do you have any memories of Jack Kevorkian? What did you think of his philosophy regarding assisted suicide? Let me know in the comments below!
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