Michael Goldsmith

The general public may not have known much about Michael Goldsmith as he taught law at BYU, although he had a distinguished career as an assistant U.S. attorney and as counsel to the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. But it was through his death — or, specifically, through the way he turned his death into a way to help others — that he made a lasting mark.

Goldsmith died Sunday of causes associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often shortened to ALS and sometimes known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He fought the disease for more than three years, and thanks to his work with Major League Baseball, will continue fighting it for years to come.

According to a column by George Vecsey of the New York Times, Goldsmith saw the relationship between the disease and Gehrig, one of the greatest players in New York Yankees history, as an opportunity. He wrote a guest column in Newsweek one year ago, challenging Major League Baseball to do more to help fight it. Pharmaceutical companies have lost interest in researching new drugs that could help because progress has been so slow.

That led baseball to set aside July 4 this year as a day in which the 70th anniversary of Gehrig's final speech to Yankees fans was commemorated in each stadium and people were asked to donate money. Goldsmith was on hand at Yankee Stadium, where he tossed out the first pitch. Much money was raised. People still are encouraged to pledge through the Web site mlb4als.mlblogs.com.

People are a lot more than what the public happens to know about them, of course. Goldsmith was born in Israel, raised in New York and somehow made his way to Utah. It was an adventurous life. But the way he chose to face a fatal disease says more than anything about the type of person he was. And that is why baseball decided to dedicate last night's World Series game to him.