[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 52 (Tuesday, May 2, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S3255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO GRACE WALSH

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the memory 
of Grace Walsh of Eau Claire, WI, who passed away on Monday, April 24. 
I will remember Grace as a wonderful person and brilliant teacher, 
someone who taught me lessons in debate and in life that I have relied 
on so often throughout my career in public service.
  Grace coached her debate team to six national championships at the 
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she co-founded the Speech 
Department and served as both a professor and director of forensics. 
During the summer of 1970 when I was still in high school, I was lucky 
enough to study debate with Grace at the Eau Claire Debate Institute. 
Grace was a consummate teacher who brought out the best in her 
students, and a fierce competitor who built a debating dynasty in Eau 
Claire. With warmth, wit, and a mastery of forensics, Grace quickly won 
her students' respect. While small in size, Grace was commanding in 
stature, thanks to her keen understanding of how to coach winning 
debaters. ``Always slip them the blade nicely,'' she told us.
  Many years after I attended that summer debating program at Eau 
Claire, I saw Grace again. I gave a talk in Eau Claire after I won an 
upset victory in the Democratic primary in 1992, and who was in the 
front row but Grace Walsh, urging me again to ``slip them the blade 
nicely, Russell.'' She was still coaching me, and displaying a love of 
debate that made her a coaching legend in Wisconsin and around the 
country.
  Grace passed away last week at the age of 89, but her spirit lives on 
through all those who knew her and had the opportunity to learn from 
her. As her student, I am grateful for her guidance, and as a 
Wisconsinite, I am proud of her many achievements. Her work did honor 
to our state, and I think it only fitting that we pause to honor and 
remember her here today.

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