Editor’s Note: Joseph Crea ’47, professor emeritus at Brooklyn Law School, died Aug. 2 at the age of 104. For more than 60 years, Crea was a teacher and mentor and a trusted counselor to dozens of professors and deans. Entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman ’67, founding partner of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, recalls the professor who was known as tough but compassionate.

Everyone I know who is associated with Brooklyn Law School has a Joe Crea story. People like to talk about his wry wit, his sage wisdom and his “Creaisms” like “Don’t drop your briefcase and run!” But most of all he was a deeply caring human being, and I can definitively say that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for Professor Joseph Crea.