Hail to the Chief

Activist Phil Ball pays tribute to the late James Graaskamp, noting that while "Chief" taught urban land economics at UW-Madison, "his classroom included the whole city. We were all his students.... Jim felt less optimistic than most about Madison's future. Which meant he fought harder and more often to protect it.... As much theoretician as pragmatist, Jim could have stood above the fray and made millions as the wise man of real estate finance.... But he loved Madison. So naturally he chose to fight.... Constantly accused by the consensus builders of tilting at windmills, Chief fumed, 'They call a bad idea consensus and a good idea a windmill.' Some say that Chief was becoming bitter, brittle. But I never saw it. Right up until his death three weeks ago, his home was filled with hope, jokes, gossip and laughter. And students, always students.... And if some never understood his lectures - if some still don't know what he meant by good public policy - it's too late. Chief's class is over. The course will not be taught again." Graaskamp died at the age of 54. Left a quadriplegic from a bout of polio as a teenager, Graaskamp was a giant in the field of holistic real estate studies. The UW's James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate carries on his work.