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About Professor Mike Larkin
Professor Mike Larkin (1949 - 2007)
Brief overview:
Mike (58), the Head of Commercial Law at UCT' s Faculty of Law, was brutally murdered in a violent mugging, by drug using thugs, while walking to attend Mass at Saint Michael's church in Rondebosch, Cape Town, on 16th November 2007.
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- "A memorial tea in remembrance of Mike Larkin was held in Johannesburg on Sunday 16th November 2008 attended by a few close friends, colleagues and prayer partners. To celebrate his life a scripture from John 12 .24-26 and a poem titled The Successful Life (by Ralph Waldo Emerson) was read as well as various personal experiences relating to Mike Larkin was shared and enjoyed by those present."
- The Street/Suburb
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
Attack Details:
- Date and time of attack
- Weapons
- Items Stolen
- Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
- Torture, Gratuitous violence
- Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.
Perpetrator details:
- Number and Descriptions
- Arrests
- Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
- Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
- Trial/Conviction
Additional Biographical Information:
On the 16th November last year my mentor, colleague, friend and prayer partner was brutally murdered by thugs abusing drugs in the Rondebosch (CT) area in the early evening of a Friday.
He was a Professor of Law, who had fairly recently been appointed as the Head of Commercial Law at UCT' s Faculty of Law. This after serving a total of 30 years of employment at Wits Law School.
A keen legal mind, a kind and generous heart, especially to his students, Mike Larkin was an authentic gentle soul that brought light, hope, peace and love to all who knew him.
The week in which he died, Mike and I spoke daily over the phone. He was advising me with a legal problem I was currently experiencing at my place of work. Two things stand out in my memory with regards to what he said. The first was his probing question, "Is this being done to you in good faith or bad faith" This was Mike the legal mind cutting to the moral and evidential chase. The second was his apt turn of phrase. The night before he died, referring to the exam scripts which he was busy marking, I asked him, "Is there no one who can assist you in marking the exam scripts? (Mike was partially sighted and marking exam scripts was a particularly arduous task for him). He replied wryly, " There are no short cuts marking exam scripts as there are no short cuts in life, I am afraid"
I wonder if it was his destiny to meet those thugs on his way to Mass at St Michael's Rondebosch? Is this why he had deliberated so long and so hard about moving to the Cape?
He would have walked with purpose on that early summer evening with the haversack full of exam scripts slung over his shoulder. He was going to evening Mass. He was only a hair s breadth away from the sanctity and safety of the church s grounds when he met with his untimely death.
The prospect of meeting with his Maker, if not in the eucharist then in death would have brought him consolation. He enjoyed Ignatian spirituality and often quoted the consolations and desolations of the Ignatian Spiritual life. He would knowingly surrender his life in order to safeguard those exam scripts that held the key to the future of his beloved LLB students.
A memorial tea in remembrance of Mike Larkin was held in Johannesburg on Sunday 16th November 2008 attended by a few close friends, colleagues and prayer partners. To celebrate his life a scripture from John 12 .24-26 and a poem titled The Successful Life (by Ralph Waldo Emerson) was read as well as various personal experiences relating to Mike Larkin was shared and enjoyed by those present.
Contribution by: Mary-Ann Alho, Johannesburg (BA; 2002)
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Professor Mike Larkin's Timeline
| 1949 |
1949
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| 2007 |
November 16, 2007
Age 58
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Cape Town, Cape Town, WC, South Africa
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