Stephen Solarz, Rest in Peace

I came to know the name of Stephen Solarz as a high school kid, observing a man I either agreed with (the Philippines) or disagreed with (Central America) strongly. After his electoral defeat in 1994, the next time I heard his name when I learned that he was one of the leading members of the board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. I met Mr. Solarz once, after observing him making a rousing speech in front of the Capitol. I had never thought that “rousing” was Mr. Solarz’s style, and I was so amazed by his command of the facts he spoke of that I asked if I could get a copy of his text. I was amazed to find that he spoke from just a half-page of illegibly scrawled notes. The speech had been almost entirely contemporaneous. We’ve clearly lost a brilliant and decent man in Stephen Solarz.

Solarz, by the way, died of esophageal cancer, the same cancer that took Tom Lantos from us. Like Lantos, Solarz was a part of that dying liberal, pro-democracy wing of the Democratic Party. Funeral services were held Thursday at Temple Rodef Shalom.