Attorney; School Board President; Chairman of PGW; newspaper Columnist; husband; vice-chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and radio talk show host are all titles that help define the life lived by my mentor and friend Rotan E. Lee, Esquire. But Rotan defied definition and dared to be different.

He didn't dare to be different in the way that a pack of similarly Goth-attired and pierced teenagers dare to be different as they roam the mall. He dared to be different by defying definition. He could not easily be confined in either the "liberal" or "conservative" box we so quickly place others so that we can comfortably attack or defend them. He was willing to walk alone, holding steadfast to his opinions and ideals.

Click "read more" below to learn why.

In our day and age, daily newspapers are written at the reading comprehension level of 6th graders. Rotan would often ask which came first, our collective failure to academically achieve or institutions dumbing down to the population and not inspiring us to achieve more. Well, Rotan would have none of it. After reading his columns or conversing with him for 10 minutes listeners and readers, myself included, were running to bookshelves to thumb through dictionaries and thesauruses.

In his June 30, 2005, Daily News column entitled "Words, Words, Words" Rotan wrote:

I celebrate language, building monuments to thoughts, ideas and ideals With linguistic bricks and mortar. I nudge my readers to stretch their Imaginations, reach for a dictionary and discover the well tempered Sentence (chock-full of active verbs, expressive adjectives, dynamic Nouns, and prominent participles, gerunds and clauses).

He was an intellectual giant in a land of happy dwarves. However, Rotan didn't flaunt his vocabulary or voracity for knowledge in a way that made you feel inadequate, if nothing else you were entertained and, he hoped, inspired to learn. Rotan could quote entire scenes from Shakespearean plays, in what I would consider to be perfect Elizabethan English. He could then miraculously transition into a wonderful impersonation of Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface.

I had the pleasure of spending a great deal of time with Rotan. We first met in the Reading Terminal Market. We both enjoyed Delilah's fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and strawberry lemonade. He took me under his wing and later helped guide my attempt to become Philadelphia's District Attorney.

He often reminded me that my campaign should be about ideas and my hope for a safer Philadelphia. He was the angel over my shoulder preaching that my campaign should attempt to raise the level of intellectual discourse surrounding our violent culture and our need to address the accessibility of handguns. He wanted me to resist the usual suspects of Devils on the other shoulder that wanted me to proceed with a campaign more akin to the Philadelphia norm, of personality driven, name calling, race-baiting, innuendo and demagoguery.

He demanded that the Seth4DA team always remember to run an issue centered campaign that even if it failed electorally, would still inspire followers to think outside of the box as we address several hard facts. In Philadelphia, the number one cause of death for African-Amercian men under thirty-five is homicide. Philadelphia leads the nation in the rate of homicides caused by handguns. In our home town, handguns may are bought or rented out of speakeasies quicker than you can be served at the drive-through window of your fast food chain of choice.

Every Saturday. Rotan would hold court at the Tinderbox, a tobacconist on Lancaster Avenue. Those assembled would smoke imported handmade cigars and sip fine spirits. Rotan favored a certain single malt scotch. Lawyers, university professors, men with blue collars and even a congressman were faithful attendees. No matter how many showed up the soirée never truly began until Rotan arrived.

Rotan was a modern day Aesop. He told stories and connected the dots between seemingly unrelated events and eras that engaged listeners. He used the Socratic method and would go around the room forcing all to supply answers and opinions.

On April 15th, I enjoyed what would be my last time attending this gathering with Rotan. He had invited a guest speaker. Our guest was the author of a book that chronicled the devastation in Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the vision for its rebirth.

As I puffed on my favorite Arturo Fuente, Rotan weaved together Katrina, the fall of Rome, and the balkanization of America and he equated it with the Mel Gibson movie Mad Max: Escape from Thunderdome. My head is still reeling.

I will miss Rotan very much, and will try to carry a part of him with me always. I will try to live a healthier lifestyle now, try to mentor those younger than I, and always aspire to be better than I am.

In his June 2, 2005, column entitled "We Happy Band of Smokers," he shared:

I concur with Mark Twain, "If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go."

Well, I am sure that Rotan is holding court in the great beyond. Hopefully, in a vigorous discourse with Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, and others while exhaling from the finest cigar in St. Peter's humidor.