George,

Sometime in the mid-1990s, Michael Dukakis came to the University of Virginia Law School, to speak on the topic of health care. I had volunteered in his first campaign for governor of Massachusetts in 1974 and had an opportunity to say hello to Gov. Dukakis after his presentation. I told him of my earliest memory of his political career, which was when, as a young State Representative, he proposed the first no-fault auto insurance in the nation, and got the bill enacted into law. Without missing a beat, Dukakis said, "Well, I just did the political work, but the fellow who came up with the idea is Jeff O'Connell, who's right over there. Let me introduce you..."

Sure enough, the intellectual architect of no-fault auto insurance, Prof. Jeffrey O'Connell, was in the room. I didn't know that he was on the UVa faculty. Somehow, it reminded me of the scene in Annie Hall, where Marshall McLuhan happens to appear in a movie ticket line just when his work is being discussed. Small world.

Harry Landers (electronic mail, December 13, 2004)