RIP: Dr. Bernard L. Brock

I teach my First Amendment class from 5-8 p.m. on Monday nights. Tonight was difficult. About an hour before class started I found out that one of the major influences in my life died last Saturday. Dr. Bernie Brock, Professor Emeritus of Rhetorical Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, was 73. Bernie was a highly respected scholar in the area of political rhetoric, and a much loved teacher who directed scores of M.A. theses and doctoral dissertations.

Bernie was not my doctoral advisor, but he was on my doctoral committee. While I was at Wayne from 1984 - 1987 I took every graduate level class he offered, enjoying them immensely. Bernie's classes were graduate seminars in the best sense; graduate students presented summaries and critiques of class readings along with original papers while Bernie offered his own insights and musings. Actually, whenever I talk about the definitions of Radical, Liberal, Convervative, and Reactionary, just about everything I know about those labels comes from listening to Bernie in class.

When it came time for me to write my doctoral dissertation, Bernie approached me one day and said that I should write the definitive study of the rhetoric of the Reagan Administration. At the time the prospect of studying Ronald Reagan for a year did not impress me, so I didn't do it.

I grew closer to Bernie after I left Wayne. We would see each other just about every year at the annual meetings of the National Communication Association and the Central States Communication Association. We were on many panels together and developed into a kind of mutual admiration society.

About 5 years ago Bernie somehow got on my email distribution list, and he always sent me supportive comments about my activities and writings. He was a hard core Democrat, yet he appreciated my third party activism. A few years ago he started sending me copies of op-ed pieces he was writing for the Michigan Citizen. Here they are:

• The Use and Abuse of Terrorism
• George Bush's "Splendid Little War"
• Preemptive Hot War Policy Replaces Cold War
• Two Years Later: Bush Still Clinging to World Police Instead of World Peace

Bernie is survived by his son Arthur, daugher Leslie, and two grandchildren.