Memories of Wally Sterling

Among the many legacies left by J. Wallace Sterling--but not mentioned in your July 3 report of his death--was his service on the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, the federal agency charged with planning the 1976 commemoration of the nation’s 200th anniversary.

Wally was appointed chairman in 1969 by President Nixon. Wally told me he felt that the appointment was Nixon’s way of apologizing for an incident at Stanford during Nixon’s term as vice president. Sterling had severely, but privately, criticized the vice president for not preparing any specific remarks for a long-scheduled and well-publicized address to the student body. Sterling felt no one, no matter his position, had the right to treat students so disdainfully.

Wally also liked to laugh about the time in 1970 that the Ladies of Mount Vernon invited him to dinner. Wally asked me to go along as the Bicentennial Commission’s executive consultant. On the ride back to Washington, we were greatly amused by the tenor of the questions we had fielded. Both of us felt that there had been an undercurrent of suspicion that Wally--Canadian by birth--and I--born in England--were somehow envisioning a commemoration that would culminate in the former colonies rejoining the British Empire.

As a former student under him at Stanford, as a colleague, and as a friend, I have known no one else who was as kind, as thoughtful, and as concerned about others. What made Wally Sterling so special was his ability to show and act on this interest, whether he was focused on one person, a classroom of students, an entire university, or the nation as a whole.

GODFREY HARRIS

Los Angeles