REED: Was a true champion

I wanted to comment on Scott Reed’s passing. I met Scott in 1969 while he was on the North Idaho College Board of Trustees. We became friends and he became my attorney. I later went to law school and he and I spent hundreds of hours over the years talking in the morning between 5:30 and 6:15 a.m. about politics, law, his cases, my cases and family. We were both early risers.

We often went to lunch and he loved a beet salad. We tried several cases together and had fun and both won and lost. In my opinion, Scott was one of the best attorneys in North Idaho if not the best. His only competition in the early years was Gene Miller and they tried a number of cases against each other.

Scott indicated to me when he first took the bar in Idaho there were only four or five people and he thought the Supreme Court may have made a mistake and been kind to let him in. This from one of the smartest humans I ever knew is typical of his being humble and unpretentious.

His efforts to make a better world have already been discussed in the paper by Peter Erbland and Tony Stewart, but the people of North Idaho should know they lost a champion for the environment, property rights and human rights. Carol and I shall miss Scott and we wish the best for his family.

JAMES CROWE

Coeur d’Alene