I have been asked to write personally of John [Merryman]. Not of him as scholar,educator, author, nor even as father of the fields of art and cultural propertylaw, but as the person who did these things, and more. To present an inclusive,all-embracing picture of John, the universalist, both in himself and what he hasdone.

First, I owe my interest, career, and whatever contributions I have made aslawyer, teacher, and writer on art and cultural property law to John. Nearly 30years ago, as a corporate litigator and neophyte collector interested in theconnection between art and law, I read Law Ethics and the Visual Arts.1 In chapters entitled “Plunder, Destruction, andReparation” and “An Artist’s Life,”I was taken by its commitment to culture, its questions—such as, Canart be more valuable than a life?—and its overarching ethical yetconcrete approach to them. I became a fledgling in the fields of art andcultural property law. A few years later I met John at a conference inAmsterdam. He became a mentor, model, and friend.