Mondays with Mike: Notorious? I say glorious.

When remarkable people die, obituaries remind us of why they were remarkable. For me, I always learn something new and, often, illuminating.

In the case of RBG, that included a particular case she took on behalf of a man (though best known for championing women’s causes, she represented many men in their fight for equal treatment, too). When his wife died in 1972, Stephen Wiesenfeld applied to the Social Security Administration for its survivor’s benefit. He wanted it because it would help him spend more time with his young son.

Men, however, were not eligible for the survivor’s benefit—the flip side of gender discrimination and stereotypes of gender roles. Ginsburg eventually argued the case in front of the Supreme court, then all-male, and won the decision decisively. She and her client remained close friends ever since.

That story reminded me of how much the fight for equal rights for women has enriched men’s lives, and how it also freed men from gender stereotypes. It’s OK to be a stay-at-home dad today. Men can get maternity leave. Men can watch their daughters compete in sports. Men don’t always have to be the tough one. Men can be present when their children are born, for crying out loud.

And it reminded me that there is nothing radical about seeking equality under the law, and that Notorious RBG was anything but radical.

Reading about the arc of Ginsburg’s career also called to mind the life and work of one of her predecessors, Thurgood Marshall. Growing up, I knew him primarily as the first Black member of the Supreme Court. But just as rich is the story of his legal career before his appointment. My friend Marland, an attorney himself, taught me about how, leading the NAACP’s legal team, Marshall won cases around the country that brought down discriminatory and racist practices. (One of those was Brown vs. Board of Education.)

RBG’s obit led me to read up on Marshall, and I was gratified to learn that, when President Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993, he had this to say:

“Many admirers of her work say that she is to the women’s movement what former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall was to the movement for the rights of African Americans. I can think of no greater compliment to bestow on an American lawyer.”

Thank you Justice Ginsburg, rest in peace.