In Honor of Luis Miguel Díaz, Long-Time Contributor to Mediate.com

I had the privilege of knowing Luis Miguel Díaz through my work at Mediate.com. From 2000 to 2010, he submitted 20 articles. The first was called ‘Mediation in the Year 2051’ and the last ‘Usurpation Of Freewill In The Age Of Discretion.’ All of Luis Miguel’s articles are available here.

I am thinking that others will get value from reviewing a bit of my correspondence with Merri Hanson and Michaela Murphy regarding Luis Miguel Diaz’s recent passing.

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Hi John. I wanted to let you know that our mutual college Luis Miguel Diaz, longtime contributor to Mediate.com, died on Sunday June 18, 2011 in Mexico City surrounded by family and friends. He faced cancer with courage and dignity. His creative and insightful perspectives will be sorely missed by many of us.

If you want additional information, his colleague Francisco Conde at Solucio’n Negociada can assist.

Merri L. Hanson Peninsula Mediation & ADR

Williamsburg, VA 23185

www.peninsulamediation.com

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HI Merri,

Yes, I heard. I posted something on the Facebook page created: “Amigos de Luis Miguel Díaz González”– It includes a link to all his articles on Mediate.com.

I’ll miss him.

He had a big heart.

And a super creative,

Out of the box thinking mind.

Thanks for sharing this,

John

p.s. I have included the message I received with more news:

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Michaela Murphy has sent you a message.

Date: 6/21/2011
Subject: RE: Luis Miguel

We share your sadness, John.

Yes, I can tell you what happened.

Your friend’s last public appearance was a month ago, when Themis, our publisher, indulged us in a rather non-traditional book presentation–a conversation about our a bilingual legal dictionary, Legal Lexicon, as well as about the philosophy of language, including his favorite philosopher, Wittgenstein, and mine, Ortega y Gasset. We scheduled it knowing that he might not be able to attend in person. Following successful treatment for melanoma and lymphoma, he had been experiencing severe pain and digestive problems. After nearly a year, they finally diagnosed the cause of the pain: advanced pancreatic cancer. Prognosis: weeks. But, bless his heart, he rose to the occasion. Once he took the microphone, his vital energy belied the fragility of the body. His idea was that we perform it as if we were doing jazz riffs. So I hired a couple of jazz musicians, who also played “Let it Be” for him at the end. He was in his element.

Throughout the last few weeks of palliative care your friend expressed how fortunate he felt for the life he had led. He said he held no grudges against himself or anyone. Ever a model of integrity, Luis Miguel chose to make the dying process a renewal of spirit. He died at home with his family and his dog Pancho.

Rather than the traditional “velorio”, Luis Miguel called on us to hold a gathering of family and friends in celebration with wine, smokes, and The Beatles at the home of a devoted friend, Fritz Praege. He said that he would enjoy passing over us to hear the music and laughter and to smell the smoke. In the end his family favored a more traditional venue for the viewing. But we did gather last night, just as he wished. This morning the family held a mass before the body was cremated and deposited in the family crypt at the Spanish cemetery.

If you feel moved to post an encomium, I suggest you use the FaceBook page Luis Miguel’s former students set up: “Amigos de Luis Miguel Díaz”. Posting in English is fine.

Warm regards,

Michaela Murphy Attorney* / Arbitrator / Mediator
Centro Interdisciplinario para el Manejo de Conflictos, A.C. Mexico City

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Review Luis Miguel Díaz Mediate.com Author Page here.

                       

John Ford

 John Ford is the author of Peace at Work and founder of the HR Mediation Academy. He mediates; trains; and consults to organizations that have accepted the inevitability of conflict and are seeking to approach it with greater clarity and confidence. He was the managing editor of Mediate.com from 2000… MORE >