Ron Zobel died Tuesday night. During the early 1980's, Ron was reviled by most Alaskans. Ron, and his wife, Penny, had the gall to sue the State of Alaska over the Permanent Fund's original distribution formula. The original formula stipulated a fixed amount (x) for each year of Alaskan residency. So, if you'd lived in Alaska for forty years, your dividend amount was 40x. If you'd lived in Alaska for one year, your dividend was 1x.
As you can imagine, the Zobel's suit did not go over well with the entrenched Sourdough population. The Zobels were socially shunned. Death threats abounded.
But, they had the courage to go forward with their lawsuit and the US Supreme Court agreed that distribution formula was unconstitutional.
At the time, I was one of those Alaskans who would have received a significant chunk of change. I didn't vilify the Zobels. But I was greatly offended: "How dare those outsiders tell us what we can and cannot do."
But now, I understand the huge risk they took. And they were right.
Peter will be going to the memorial service on Monday - Ron practiced at Peter's firm for a time.
5:23:59 PM 
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