When you read the poems of Dylan Thomas you get a sense of the entire world through the prism of one extraordinarily perceptive, insightful and generous soul. The words of the poet make Wales the whole world, and the reader, regardless of his background, becomes a Welsh villager on a planet larger and more vivid than he could have ever imagined before reading Thomas. That was the way Al Coutinho was with the Ironbound and Ferry Street, for from his hometown neighborhood in Newark, Al radiated joy, conviction and expansiveness from the specific vantage point of the Portuguese American experience: complex and exciting and ultimately reflective of his uniqueness as a deeply kind and intelligent human being always willing to take a friend along for a glimpse through his wise and keenly perceptive eyes at everything.

What a beautiful world that was - a world that could only have existed for many of us because of the specialness of Al Coutinho. What a great day it was when that dignified guy - with roots in the Old World and a deep understanding of what it means to live in the New World - walked into the public eye.

He had been there before, serving in the Assembly in the late nineties, but Al's first foray into elected politics came in 2007, when he stood onstage as Mayor Cory Booker and the late Steve Adubato, Sr., sought to extend their political influence in the legislature. Having strengthened their alliance in the 2006 citywide election, they wanted a win in the Democratic Primary, not against the allies of former Mayor Sharpe James, as much as on behalf of the whole of Newark. They believed they had a talented trinity of candidates in District 29 who could capture the public imagination and unite the city. Backed by the Essex County Democratic Committee, the ticket consisted of M. Teresa Ruiz for Senate and L. Grace Spencer and Mr. Coutinho for the Assembly.

Then-Sheriff Armando Fontoura, a former Newark beat cop in the Ironbound, took particular pride when he introduced Coutinho, proud son of a baker and business owner, who had received undergraduate and advanced degrees from New York University. If attorney Spencer represented the South Ward and educator Ruiz the North in this new alliance, the son of Bernardino Coutinho, founder and organizer of Portugal Day in Newark, rose with his business and economics and finance acumen to represent the East.

The Ruiz-led ticket won the primary that year, decisively, and, of course the general, and indeed the trio of young stars proved wholly engaged in their work once they arrived in Trenton. A year in, they delivered on a campaign promise of new schools construction. Coutinho and Spencer took the lead in the Assembly to get support for a $3.9 billion state borrowing allocation. Of that dollar amount, $2.9 went to construction in poor and urban districts, including the building of a long overdue school on Oliver Street in the Ironbound.

"I’ve been calling the SDA [Schools Development Authority] once a week, every Monday," the assemblyman said at the time. "We’re touching base, and I’m interested always in identifying ways that we can save money. I would like to continue to look at some ideas about alternative ways to get the schools built. We’re looking at a huge need statewide. $27 billion statewide. So we need to consider cost efficiency, including public-private partnerships."

Coutinho and his colleagues would go on to deliver on another campaign promise: reform of the state’s prisoner re-entry program. "I will be looking at a comprehensive public safety act that includes expungement of criminal records to help our residents get jobs, yes – but that is also smart and tough on crime," Coutinho said.

Along the way, the Assemblyman took care to present the fineness of his community - all of Newark. He loved his hometown and felt vitally connected to its wards and its many people, all of them - while telling his story of the Portuguese Americans of the Ironbound. He routinely made speeches in both English and Portuguese and spoke - never with narrowness but the opposite - a sense of the vast history and hopes of the great Portuguese of New Jersey and of Newark and their connectedness to the greatness of the country. He saw everyone as interconnected. There was no private and public Al Coutinho. He was the same with everyone, with never an unkind word to say about anybody in a business that is frequently cruel and cutthroat.

Al was a patriot, who loved the founding fathers, the founding documents, the connectedness of the institutions that empower people. He was a colleague who reached out and forged meaningful relationships and friendships with other lawmakers and elected officials from all over the state of New Jersey. He helped reporters better understand thorny and complex political and policy issues, in a way that turned an ordinary piece into a truly insightful piece thanks to his contribution. He thrived on understanding and representing the very crux of civilization in his own city. Ultimately, we all pass through the gateway of the Ironbound in New Jersey, and for so many of us, Al Coutinho was the ambassador for this very, very special place - his place, where having a meal with him in his backyard was important - not just because it was one of the best meals you could ever have - but because of the company, because of the care and devotion and conversational sophistication, the savoir faire and elegance - and finally deeply human and compassionate public friend who was Albert Coutinho, Al, assemblyman of New Jersey.

Of course, he loved soccer and sport and what a thrill it must have been for him to think of the World Cup coming to his home state. That event with its enormous heart and binding together of people from all over the world was exactly what Al was about, as he worked with the kids in his own neighborhood not just to play the beautiful game but to see the whole world in the faces of the hard working and the good men and women who walk the sidewalks and sit on the park benches in the parks of Newark or watch the game at Sport Club Portuguese. It was wholly appropriate after one torturous budget season at some ungodly hour when Coutinho trumpeted a vuvuzela in the Assembly chamber.

Most people with that kind of outward generosity and curiosity about others and public dedication sometimes don't have as much time for their own families, but such was not the case with Al Coutinho, who so obviously profoundly loved his family. He ended up in a hospital bed once after suffering a heart attack and driving himself to the emergency room and someone close to him - with the deepest reverence and love - told me, "He's always taking care of everyone else, he doesn't take care of himself the way he should." He spoke the same way about all of them, and what they constantly did for him and meant to him, never allowing an occasion to pass without speaking with such pride and love of his brother Billy, in majestically lit rooms in restaurants and coffee shops of the Ironbound, on streets that through the eyes of such a learned, publicly committed, creative and brave soul, unsentimental and pragmatic in the best sense, seemed like illuminated pages in a great book, with a binding made of iron, that brought people together in a beautiful world called the Ironbound, written by Albert "Al" Coutinho.

Leave it to the Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, a poet, after all, to have the last word - for now - on his friend and fellow Newarker:

“I join all of Newark in shock and sadness at the sudden loss of Alberto Coutinho this morning. As a former representative for New Jersey’s 29^th Legislative District for more than five years, Al fought for job creation, recreational space and workforce reentry reforms, all of which helped strengthen our city.

“But more than that, Al was a central pillar of our Portuguese community, the Ironbound, and the city at large. As an avid soccer fan, he prioritized his role as a soccer coach for our youth. The annual Portuguese Day Festival, so sensational that it is known nationally, was established by his family and overseen enthusiastically by Al every year.

"Surely, the upcoming Portuguese Festival, and FIFA games will not be the same without this beloved community giant.

“On behalf of the people of Newark, I send my heartfelt condolences to his family, our Ironbound neighbors and all who have been touched by the generous spirit of this remarkable man.”