THE ADVOCATE 95
VOL. 79 PART 1 JANUARY 2021
tria, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India,
Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan. He never got over the
need to travel to far-off places.
Jerry’s auto-obituary notes that his “contributions to the Advocate will never
be equalled”. That is true, but it does not tell the whole story. It goes on to say
“there are few who remember s.m.a.l.l.”. His first letter to the editor was in July
1969 when he appealed the decision to give him second prize in the Advocate’s
Christmas Competition, and in January 1971 he wrote an article about the
establishment of Société Midget/Association Little Lawyers ((1971) 29 Advocate
13). In the years that followed, Jerry carried on a nearly constant stream of correspondence
with the editor of the Advocate, much of which had to do with
s.m.a.l.l. For a short summary of the s.m.a.l.l. saga, see p. 135 of this issue–Ed.
Although this correspondence is partially collected in Pippick Press’s two
volumes entitled The Advocate Letters 1969–1983 (published on Jerry’s 50th
birthday) and The Advocate Letters 1984–2013 (published on Jerry’s 70th
birthday), they are not generally available because only one copy of each
volume was published. For that reason, what follows is a selection of Jerry’s
shorter letters:
Dear Sir:
Re: M.F. Southin’s article on “Good Character”
During the past month, I have been stopped on the street by complete
strangers, incomplete strangers, lay-people, unlaid people, all of whom
have put one question to me: “Where does s.m.a.l.l. stand on the confabulation
which appears to be rending the legal fraternity asunder?”
The members of our association have met together to discuss the matter
in small length. By unanimous decision (twenty-four to three), it was
decided that we owed it to the legal fraternity of British Columbia to make
known our opinion in this matter. The writer was appointed to (and does
hereby) explain the position our membership takes, in order to allay any
doubts and fears and to inform your readership exactly where we stand.
Yours truly,
Gerald J. Lecovin,
Chaplin
Dear Sir:
I am obliged to Miss Southin for her lucid explanation of Lord Tenterden’s
Act.
I must admit that until then, I had believed that Lord Tenterden was the
fellow that Oscar Wilde had been fooling around with and “act” referred
to the “fooling around”…
Yours truly,
Gerald J. Lecovin