Mar
26

Donald Alford Weadon, Jr. (1945-2008)

Posted by Clif Burns at 2:47 pm on March 26, 2008
Category: General
Donald Alford Weadon, Jr.

I was saddened to learn today that one of the lions of the export bar, Don Weadon, passed away on Easter Sunday after a series of strokes that he suffered early that morning. Don was a kind and generous person, a great wit, a compelling raconteur, and a man with many friends. Laura Rozen, a friend of Don’s who blogs at War and Piece, wrote a moving and affectionate remembrance of Don which should be read by everyone who knew him.

Right after I started up Export Law Blog, I got a phone call from Don. There was very little in the export world that missed his keen eye and abundant curiosity. We met for lunch and corresponded by email after that. He provided loads of encouragement for this blog, and he often responded by email to particular posts, usually with a witty remark.

I last heard from Don on March 13 when he responded to a post I had done on Bigelow Aerospace which was planning to file a commodity jurisdiction request seeking the transfer of export licensing authority over its POOFs (privately-owned orbital facilities) from State to Commerce. The point of the post was the funny acronym POOF and the quixotic aspirations of Bigelow that DDTC would relinquish licensing of space technology. Don wrote:

Love it, Clif. As they used to say, a title on the door means a Bigelow on the floor. Literally.

Best regards,

Don

And, of course, Don wasn’t referring to a Bigelow wall-to-wall carpet on the floor.

Only 63 when he died, Don’s life was cut short sooner than anyone could have anticipated. However, the old chestnut from Plutarch rings true here: “The measure of a man’s life is the well spending of it, and not the length.” And by that measure, Don’s life was richly spent. He will be missed by many.

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10 Comments »

  • Few individuals could make sense of what is seemingly such an irrational and arbitrary area of legal practice as Don. One of my favorite training bon mots is the Weadonism: “Export controls are political controls merely denominated in technical terms.” Seemingly off the cuff statements like that were very reflective of their author: simple, elegant, conveyors of great depth and even greater insight. I will miss “Dandy Don.”

    Comment by Mark Sagrans — March 26, 2008 @ 3:11 pm

  • I first met Don 30 years or so ago and had the good fortune to work with him on several projects. We lectured in tandum at numerous Export Licensing seminars, and I always left knowing more than when I started. “Weadonism” is a good term for his rapid and humorous wit. Don could dictate more words in a day than most lawyers could in a week. The export community will miss him.

    Ken Doyle

    Comment by Kndl — March 26, 2008 @ 3:41 pm

  • This is very sad news, indeed! All of us who worked with Don have dozens of “Don Weadon Stories” - warm and very personal memories of an extraordinary attorney and a warm, true friend. I last saw Don at the Hudson Institute, where Linc Bloomfield was speaking, and he was walking with some difficulty but was as cheerful and welcoming as always.

    Comment by John Liebman — March 26, 2008 @ 4:08 pm

  • Don and I served together in the Navy 30 years ago and I cherish every memory, every wit and every glass of wine that we shared irregularly over three decades. In this age of selfish individualism Don swam against the current and was a genuine hero. I “gun-decked” a few Physical Fitness evaluations for him lest he run out of breath during the 2-mile run - thus leaving him incapable of finishing the latest humorous story. In return, he plied me with fine wine and stories of the Admiral who forgot to wear his shoulder board insignia to a Change of Command ceremony. My favorite story was of his summons to dine with Admiral McCain on 10/27/1967. Perplexed by being the only junior officer invited to the Admiral’s quarters for dinner, Don subsequently discovered that the Admiral had learned that his son John McCain had been shot down in VietNam and he wanted to spend an evening conversing with a junior officer similar to his son’s age. I also wonder if that “Donald Alford Weadon” brass plaque that he installed in the basement of a building at Cornell, “for the hell of it,” still remains?

    The Donald A. Weadons of this world are few and far between. I am a much better man for knowing him. I offer my sincere condolences to Suzie of whom he raved whenever we met. Thank you for loving and caring for Don, Suzie. May the loving memories of your “funtastic” husband comfort you in your loss.
    Greg Landers
    San Jose, CA &
    Naval Air Station Moffett Field

    Comment by Greg Landers — March 26, 2008 @ 7:59 pm

  • I am heartbroken and shocked to learn that this brilliant lawyer and splendid human being has departed our ranks prematurely. I was hoping to get to Washington to have lunch with him in April; I had no inkling that we were about to lose him. Don’s wit and vibrant humor, his keen insights into legal and political developments, and his deep love for his adored wife always impressed me. He was truly one of a kind and will be sorely missed by those of us who had the privilege of knowing him.

    Comment by Ann Elizabeth Mayer — March 27, 2008 @ 9:19 am

  • I met Don nearly a quarter century ago. Typically gracious, he invited me to stay at his Georgetown home instead of putting up in a hotel, even though I was a just a green young lawyer from Tulsa, and we talked export law most of the night.

    I hope that he and Sir Blackamoor, his beloved lab that he just lost to a brain infection, are reunited now.

    Comment by Mike Deal — March 27, 2008 @ 9:24 am

  • Don is a typical American who is friendly, wise, and generous. I met him several years ago when I need his help to advise me on China’s export control. I am benefit from his advise all the time.
    My Chinese friends and I will remember him all the time when we continue to work in export control, he will live in our heart forever.
    Don’s friend in China–LI Genxin, Secretary General of China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

    Comment by LI Genxin — March 27, 2008 @ 8:36 pm

  • Weeds and I were freshmen at Cornell in 1963. The Glee Club drew a small like-minded cluster of us together.

    I knew his parents and sister; he knew mine. Donald was bombastic in those days and a chance encounter upon a small lunch room in a county hotel could go anywhere. We found one in Pirates Cove that served Harvey’s Bristol Cream in a milk shake glass, all for 75 cents. This weekly pilgrimage morphed into the Wednesday Afternoon Luncheon Club. Two silly 19 year olds, gunning down the lake shore in his TR-4, between classes, to toast something or somebody grand with our 75 cent sherry.

    After graduation, wars, grad schools, families, etc. we were separated. Happily, I was introduced to Donald’s wife, Suzie, and we learned that she and I had heap of mutual friends from Sea Pines Corp. days.

    So, Suzie. Here’s to you. (Advice I received when my wife Jeannie died in 1988: “You must be very curious where life will take you next.”

    I pray you will develop that curiosity because in my case, it sustained me.

    Warm regards,

    James K. Poffley
    jkp3@psu.edu

    Comment by Jim Poffley — March 31, 2008 @ 7:20 pm

  • My husband and I had the opportunity to meet Don in 1994 while vacationing in the Caymans. Don and I share the same birthday (Sept 15) which we were both celebrating that weekend and love of animals, so we had an instant connection. We thoroughly enjoyed his stories, wit and humor and consider meeting him one of the highlights of our trip. We have fond memories of a great afternoon on Rum Point drinking Mud Slides.

    Meeting Don was just a chance encounter, but I feel fortunate to have crossed paths with such a wonderful individual.

    I have occasionally kept in touch with Don and was saddened to learn of his untimely death. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family.

    Comment by Sharon Nobles — April 30, 2008 @ 10:21 am

  • In the 1980s I was the general counsel for a now long forgotten technology company whose European operations were run out of Monte Carlo. I was a novice in export control laws and was alarmed when I discovered that our Monte Carlo office and the person who headed it were suddenly blacklisted by the DOC. I can’t remember now, nearly 3 decades later, who introduced me to Donald Alford Weadon, but I’ll be forever grateful. Don’s knowledge, contacts, intelligence and fervor made an immediate impresion on me and others in that company. A great story about that blacklisting: We had Don descend on our local office in Monte Carlo. He was staying at the hotel (whose name I forget), but through the tunnel under which ran the Grand Prix de Monte Carlo. One night, Don ventured out on his balcony and shut his sliding glass door. Unfortunately he locked himself out. More unfortunately, he was in his “tighty whities” and nothing else. He climbed to another room that ultimately let him in.

    I recall another time when I visited him on the East Coast and was fortunate enough to have him host me at the Chincoteague Oyster Festival. Sadly I had never tasted oysters before that visit in the mid-1980s when i was in my late 30s. But that weekend was memorable not only for my new found love of oysters, but for getting to know Don as a friend.

    While we had one more opportunity to work together a few years later, I lost regular contact with Don after that.

    Don will always remain in my heart and memory as a brilliant lawyer, a great humorist and a valued friend.

    I am so saddened to learn that all of his many, many friends will no longer get to share his great laugh and humor other than in our memories.

    Scott Neely

    Comment by Scott Neely — May 5, 2008 @ 10:53 pm

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