At Ed Guthman's funeral, his daughter, Diane, delivered the following address:
So what was it really that made Ed Guthman such a great man, capable of such remarkable accomplishments and contributions to society?
As his daughter and special friend, I will now reveal to you the
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ED GUTHMAN.
- Commandment One: Once you are done checking and double checking your facts, make another round of calls. There is always someone you may have forgotten to talk to. You better damn well be sure that you got it right!
- Commandment Two: Teach your children to be independent and make their own decisions. And I want to add here that this concept expanded beyond his family. He understood the value of independent thinking and always encouraged this of his students, staff and colleagues. So go out and think for yourself!
- Commandment Three: However, before you make a big decision in your life, you get out there and talk to everyone you can. You will be surprised how many good people will give you thirty minutes of their time if you just ask them.
- Commandment Four: It does not matter what type of career you choose to pursue, just make sure you are giving back to society. (This one was inspired by one his best friends, Robert Kennedy)
- Commandment Five: The next one he learned from his father Otto, a German Jew, who immigrated to the United States in 1889: Invest in education. It's the one thing they can't take away from you.
- Commandment Six: Do not miss a day of work due to illness. Just so you all know, he followed that one strictly. My dad worked just over 60 years without calling in sick. I have to admit that I haven't followed Commandment Number One and called the human resources offices of all of his former employers to check that fact, but I have a pretty good handle on this. Even in his last year teaching at USC at 87, when he had knee surgery, he insisted on getting to campus to teach his class.
- Commandment Seven: But no matter how important your job is, be sure to attend all of your children's athletic events. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to arrange his work schedule so that he could attend our games.
- Commandment Eight: Number Eight is very simple: Never leave a baseball game until the last man is out.
- Commandment Nine: The next one we have to attribute to his mother, Hilda, a proper Victorian woman from British Columbia: No matter what anyone tells ya, getting old is the shits.
- Commandment Ten: And the final commandment of Ed Guthman is EAT CHOCOLATE EVERY DAY.