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Dear Friends and Family,

A lot of dark water has crossed under the bridge since my last update of June 21, 2004 (see sidebar). You will not be surprised that Yo Yo and I have got so much older than any of you remember. What always seems to surprise is - Anton stays forever young. Next month on April 17, on what would have been his (gasp!) 36th birthday, he will still be 28. But then, we all knew Anton was unique from the moment we met him.

So let's review. Anton was murdered in 1998. The organ recipients to whom he gave his heart, kidneys, and other organs remain, knock wood, alive and well. As our multi-cultural hero might say, inshallah. In August of 2000 Anton's murderer was tried, convicted of murder, and given a 36 year to life sentence. 2 months later he appealed. Successfully: in 2002 the Appellate Court reversed the trial court's conviction, and granted defendant another trial. That 2nd trial began in May of 2004. Again the murderer was tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 36 years to life. 4 months later he again appealed. In January of 2006 the Appellate Court upheld the latest conviction.

I include in the side bar some correspondence with the State of California Attorney General's office, to whom we are immensely grateful. . We all remain acutely aware of the likelihood of further appeals at both the State and Federal levels. There seems no limit to the ways in which the justice system can be worked, manipulated, bent, broken. Yo Yo and I have been to California multiple times lobbying for Anton…and for justice. We are exhausted, but gratified that for now, Daniel Alas remains locked on the other side of prison bars from humankind.

We continue to support both Anton's Harvard Scholarship Fund (see "Fellowship Info" on the navigation bar below) and the local high school's "Anton Segal Memorial Scholarship." If Lady Luck should shine on you, please consider contributing. This issue of Luck is a funny thing. We used to say Anton was a lucky boy. He won awards, aced his college boards, scored medals at the Junior Olympics, cruised through Harvard, adventured around the world - and I do mean the world -- dived the 7 seas, had his travel writing published, and best of all, was loved by men and women from, literally, everywhere. And he died forever young. Did his luck run out? Or sometimes we wonder, is it Anton who's lucky and we who are not…?

If you get a moment, we welcome the chance to hear from you. Add a story, a recollection, or an old photo to the website. Let us know how and what you're up to. Or join us, any April, on the East Coast, when we visit Anton at Harvard. Our contact address remains jrsegal@worldnet.att.net.

Love to you all,

Yo Yo and Jim