Obermann, John

English

ValpoScholar

Valparaiso University Law Review 
Volume 44 
Number 4 Symposium on The Civil Rights of 
Public School Students 
pp.1305-1306 
Symposium on The Civil Rights of Public School Students 
For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-
Blower 
John Obermann 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr 
 Part of the Law Commons 
Recommended Citation 
John Obermann, For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-Blower, 44 Val. U. L. 
Rev. 1305 (2010). 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol44/iss4/22 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by 
the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in Valparaiso University 
Law Review by an authorized administrator of 
ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a 
ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
 1305 
FOR JACK, LOVER OF AFRICAN ART, RINGER 
OF ALARM BELLS, AND WHISTLE-BLOWER 
John Obermann* 
When I began my employ with the School of Law in 1994, I was in 
the midst of my graduate work here at the University.  In my first year 
on the job, I registered for a class called “African Art.”  I knew very little 
about Africa (or art for that matter), but discovered upon trolling the 
halls of the law school that apparently one of our faculty had significant 
interest in African art.  That professor was, of course, Jack Hiller. 
Jack was one of the first Americans to teach in post-colonial Africa, 
serving as a Ford Foundation fellow in Tanzania and as a Fulbright 
professor in Kenya.  He taught tax in those days because his training at 
Yale led him to understand the importance of a fair system of 
contributing to society and distributing its benefits evenhandedly.  But 
Jack’s interest in Africa went way beyond tax law. 
He had a reputation for being as eager to learn as he was to teach.  
When Jack set out to learn about people, he sought to absorb their 
culture.  He brought both ears to the task and listened attentively to the 
people he was with, and both eyes to absorb the light and color of the 
space he was in.  He was a lover of art.  So once in Africa, he became a 
lover of African art.  For example, he spent time with the virtuoso wood 
carvers of Eastern Africa, photographed their work, and documented 
this neglected art form in a groundbreaking article in The Cresset back in 
1971 (“The Makonde and Their Sculpture”). 
All that Jack needed to hear from me is that I was in need of some 
education about African art.  I did not have to enroll in one of his classes 
to become one of his students.  His face lit up.  He promptly unearthed 
myriad statues, photos, and information for me to study and absorb.  In 
my final report I ended up using not only Jack’s knowledge, but also 
several photos of the woodcarvings that richly illustrated the article in 
The Cresset I mentioned above. 
Needless to say, my instructor was very impressed and my final 
grade (an “A”) reflected Jack's influence on my report that semester.  I 
recall Jack being rather proud (of me, not himself) when he discovered 
how much I had learned so quickly from him.  Today, I am proud of him 
for taking the time to influence the way I now think of art in general, and 
of African art in particular. 
I work as a techy, but more and more my work is with visual 
representation of reality.  Jack fostered my love for the visual, but was 
emphatically uninterested in most forms of modern technology.  I never 
                                                 
*  Director of Technology, Valparaiso University School of Law. 
Obermann: For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistl
Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010
1306 VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 44 
received an e-mail from Jack nor ever sent him one, for he never owned 
or used a computer in his life.  But that didn’t inhibit him from writing 
prodigiously, both as founding editor of the Journal of Third World Studies 
and as author of his famous letters.  Whether a letter from Jack was long 
or short, he knew how to express himself crisply and to the point.  He 
rang the alarm bell about dictators who arrested and imprisoned fellow 
lawyers solely because of vigorous advocacy of their clients’ causes.  
And he blew the whistle on corporations large and small if they sold a 
product that was planned to become obsolete a day after the warranty 
expired, or if they charged too much for produce.  Jack was a pistol.  And 
he didn’t need the kind of bells and whistles I specialize in to be an 
effective communicator. 
Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 44, No. 4 [2010], Art. 22
https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol44/iss4/22


For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-Blower

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University Law Review Volume 44 Number 4 Symposium on The Civil Rights of Public School Students pp.1305-1306 Symposium on The Civil Rights of Public School Students For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-Blower John Obermann Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation John Obermann, For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-Blower, 44 Val. U. L. Rev. 1305 (2010). Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol44/iss4/22 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Valparaiso University Law School at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Valparaiso University Law Review by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu.  1305 FOR JACK, LOVER OF AFRICAN ART, RINGER OF ALARM BELLS, AND WHISTLE-BLOWER John Obermann* When I began my employ with the School of Law in 1994, I was in the midst of my graduate work here at the University.  In my first year on the job, I registered for a class called “African Art.”  I knew very little about Africa (or art for that matter), but discovered upon trolling the halls of the law school that apparently one of our faculty had significant interest in African art.  That professor was, of course, Jack Hiller. Jack was one of the first Americans to teach in post-colonial Africa, serving as a Ford Foundation fellow in Tanzania and as a Fulbright professor in Kenya.  He taught tax in those days because his training at Yale led him to understand the importance of a fair system of contributing to society and distributing its benefits evenhandedly.  But Jack’s interest in Africa went way beyond tax law. He had a reputation for being as eager to learn as he was to teach.  When Jack set out to learn about people, he sought to absorb their culture.  He brought both ears to the task and listened attentively to the people he was with, and both eyes to absorb the light and color of the space he was in.  He was a lover of art.  So once in Africa, he became a lover of African art.  For example, he spent time with the virtuoso wood carvers of Eastern Africa, photographed their work, and documented this neglected art form in a groundbreaking article in The Cresset back in 1971 (“The Makonde and Their Sculpture”). All that Jack needed to hear from me is that I was in need of some education about African art.  I did not have to enroll in one of his classes to become one of his students.  His face lit up.  He promptly unearthed myriad statues, photos, and information for me to study and absorb.  In my final report I ended up using not only Jack’s knowledge, but also several photos of the woodcarvings that richly illustrated the article in The Cresset I mentioned above. Needless to say, my instructor was very impressed and my final grade (an “A”) reflected Jack's influence on my report that semester.  I recall Jack being rather proud (of me, not himself) when he discovered how much I had learned so quickly from him.  Today, I am proud of him for taking the time to influence the way I now think of art in general, and of African art in particular. I work as a techy, but more and more my work is with visual representation of reality.  Jack fostered my love for the visual, but was emphatically uninterested in most forms of modern technology.  I never                                                  *  Director of Technology, Valparaiso University School of Law. Obermann: For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and WhistlProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 20101306 VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 44 received an e-mail from Jack nor ever sent him one, for he never owned or used a computer in his life.  But that didn’t inhibit him from writing prodigiously, both as founding editor of the Journal of Third World Studies and as author of his famous letters.  Whether a letter from Jack was long or short, he knew how to express himself crisply and to the point.  He rang the alarm bell about dictators who arrested and imprisoned fellow lawyers solely because of vigorous advocacy of their clients’ causes.  And he blew the whistle on corporations large and small if they sold a product that was planned to become obsolete a day after the warranty expired, or if they charged too much for produce.  Jack was a pistol.  And he didn’t need the kind of bells and whistles I specialize in to be an effective communicator. Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 44, No. 4 [2010], Art. 22https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol44/iss4/22

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For Jack, Lover of African Art, Ringer of Alarm Bells, and Whistle-Blower

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