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Peter Gabel (January 28, 1947 – October 25, 2022) was an American law academic and associate editor of '' Tikkun'', a bi-monthly Jewish critique of politics, culture, and society. He wrote a number of articles for the magazine on subjects ranging from the original intent of the framers of the Constitution ("Founding Father Knows Best") to the
creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...
/evolution controversy ("Creationism and the Spirit of Nature"). Gabel was a founder of both the Institute for Labor and Mental Health in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, and the
Critical Legal Studies Critical legal (CLS) is a school of critical theory that developed in the United States during the 1970s.Alan Hunt, "The Theory of Critical Legal Studies," Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1986): 1-45, esp. 1, 5. Se DOI, 10.1093/ojl ...
movement. He published more than a dozen articles in law journals such as the ''
Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...
'' and ''
Texas Law Review The ''Texas Law Review'' is a student-edited and -produced law review affiliated with the University of Texas School of Law (Austin). The ''Review'' publishes seven issues per year, six of which include articles, book reviews, essays, commentaries ...
'', focusing on the role of law in shaping popular consciousness and on how law can best be used to bring about progressive social change.


Biography


Early life and education

Gabel was the only child of actress, radio and television talk show host, and television game show personality
Arlene Francis Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American game show panelist, actress, radio and television talk show host. She is best known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game ...
and actor and director
Martin Gabel Martin Gabel (June 19, 1911 – May 22, 1986) was an American actor, film director and film producer. Life and career Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rebecca and Isaac Gabel, a jeweler, both Jewish immigrants. He married Arlen ...
. His father was Jewish while his mother was of Armenian, English and German descent. He graduated from
Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy (often called Deerfield or DA) is an Independent school, independent College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schoo ...
, received his B.A. (1968) and J.D. (1972) from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he served as editor for ''
The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate Humor magazine, humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seve ...
'', and received his Ph.D. from the Wright Institute in 1981. As a teenager he worked as a guide for the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...
, a fact he revealed on the game show ''
What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...
'', where he appeared as a guest and stumped the panel, which included his mother. He appeared a second time in 1967 along with Jonathan Cerf as the editors of ''The Harvard Lampoon'', once again stumping the panel which included both his mother and father, plus Cerf's father,
Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...
, although Bennett disqualified himself at the beginning of the segment because he revealed later that he'd been tipped off the two would appear on the show. Gabel appeared again in a 1973 syndicated episode but was guessed by
Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television ser ...
.


Career

Gabel taught law at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
before becoming a law professor for 30 years at the New College of California School of Law. He also served as New College's president for 20 years. The college, founded in 1971, was an alternative school in the
Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...
that offered undergraduate degrees as well as graduate degrees in psychology and law before its accreditation was revoked and the school was forced to close in June 2008. Gabel was active in the Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics, a group in the San Francisco Bay Area that: "will bring together law teachers, lawyers, and law students in the Bay Area who share our group's aspiration to connect the inner and the outer in a fundamental transformation of legal culture." He was also strongly focused on communalizing the neighborhood in Noe Valley, San Francisco. One of the group's successful actions was to save a small
independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, ...
, Cover to Cover, which was hurt by a publishing slump. Gabel created a group email for neighbors who wanted to help and distributed fliers in the neighborhood, asking neighbors to sign a list pledging to buy a hardback book every month.


Social activism

From 1968 on, Gabel was an outspoken supporter of multiple social causes including
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
,
LGBTQ+ rights LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
and the
environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...
. In 2015, when receiving his honorary doctorate, he commented how "in 1968 there was a radiant spirit of idealism in the air that drew me into the great social movements of that time—the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam war movement, the women’s movement, the environmental movement, the gay and lesbian movement, all movements that sought to transform the world in a more loving and just direction."


Personal life and death

Gabel had a son, Samuel, with his long-time partner,
Unite Here UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 b ...
union organizer Lisa Jaicks. Gabel was the bassist in The Central Park Zoo, a dance band. Gabel died of
amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weigh ...
on October 25, 2022, at the age of 75.


Published works

*''The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self '' (Routledge, 2018) *''Another Way of Seeing: Essays on Transforming Law, Politics and Culture'' (Quid Pro Books, 2013) *''The Political Meaning of''
Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W ...
, 2 N.C.C. J. PUB INTR. L.1 (2001) *''The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning'' (Acada Books/New College of California Press, 2000)
''The Spiritual Truth of JFK''
(Tikkun magazine, March/April 1992) *''The Phenomenology of Rights-Consciousness and the Pact of the Withdrawn Selves'', 62 Tex. L. Rev. 1563 (1984).
''Roll Over Beethoven''
36 Stan. L. Rev. 1 (1984) (with Duncan Kennedy). *Book Review of Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously, 91 Harv. L. Rev. 302 (1977).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabel, Peter 1947 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American legal scholars UC Berkeley School of Law faculty University of Minnesota faculty New College of California Legal educators American philosophers of law American LGBTQ rights activists American environmentalists Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from New York (state) American people of Armenian descent Jewish American academics Jewish American activists Deerfield Academy alumni Harvard Law School alumni Roosevelt family Wright Institute alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni