In 1974 a newspaper reporter named Robert Caro finished his first book- The Power Broker, about Robert Moses, the man who developed and built most of the public projects and bridges in New York for half a century. It was edited by an up-and-coming editor named Robert Gotlieb, and after publication, the massive tome won the Pulitzer Prize. Caro had a contract to next write a biography on mayor Fiorello LaGuardia of New York, which coincidentally would have an airport named LaGuardia several years later.
Caro felt the book on LaGuardia would cover the same material as he explored in the Power Broker. Caro wanted to explore the larger issue of the acquisition and use of power in American Politics. He thought Lyndon Johnson would be a better subject and he could write the biography in five years. He went to meet with Gotlieb, who also had some ideas on what Caro's next book should be- and decided- on his own- Caro should write about Lyndon Johnson.
Fifty years later- with Caro in his late 80's and Gotlieb 90 years old, the men have published four volumes on Johnson and Caro is busy working on volume five.
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| Caro (L) and Gotlieb (R) in 1974 holding something that many of our readers under 40 might have trouble recognizing- it's called A BOOK. |
Turn Every Page is the wonderful documentary on the fifty- year working relationship between these two remarkable men. It is a quintessential NYC writing story, and you know how much we love those.
Gotlieb, besides editing Caro, had edited all of Toni Morrison's books, and well over a hundred other best sellers including Catch-22, which Gotlieb explains in the movie was originally titled Catch-18 until a problem arose with that title and Gotlieb slept on the matter and awoke thinking 22 was a funnier number.
This being Miami- where culture passes for 35 something federalist society judges streaming to their local Megaplex on Saturday night to swill gallons of Diet Coke and binge on bottomless popcorn tubs while watching a movie with cars exploding on bridges that are collapsing and heroes and heroines saving the day at the last moment from evil Democratic politicians being controlled by Muslim terrorists who want to install Sharia law in the US, - Turn Every Page appears to be playing at only the small arts/independent theater in Coral Gables opposite Books and Books.
Do yourself a favor and go watch it. It's a remarkable movie on how two men devoted their lives to the craft of writing and editing.
36 comments:
I love your blog, Rumpole, and read it every day. The word is "tome," not tomb.
Your point being?
Everyone knows Rumpole doesn't write the blog every day anymore. He's too old. He has ghost writers and he approves the content, makes a few unsubstantial changes, and its posted. No one could practice law and write as much as he claims to do by himself. Come on man.
Plus Tom Brady just retired.
Robert Caro, not Cairo
Robert Caro, not Cairo.
Rumpole, why on every post do you allow comments alluding to your making spelling errors when I can’t see any ?
You also spelled Gotlieb wrong its Gothlieb or Gootlieb or Gutlieb idiot
You also spelled turn every page wrong. It's TERN EVRY PAIGE you moron
You also spelled coral gables and movie and theater wrong you dumbass. Its corel gabbles and moovee and theaterere you simpleton
I read the Power Broker in 1977 in a political science class my freshman year of college. It changed my life.
Robert Moses is the answer to the most wrongly answered trivia question on NY City history: Who is the man most responsible for the Dodgers skedaddling to LA? Read the book and the answer becomes all too obvious.
15 years in criminal law now. A few as an ASA and the rest private defense. I just hung up a call from a potential client's mother.
Client facing charges stemming from an alleged rape of a young family member. No bond, won't get out, offer will be lengthy, a child will have to be deposed, and innocent or guilty, the defendant will likely not see sunlight in 2023.
And if the child was indeed violated, the child will likely never recover and will deal with this pain and trauma the rest of their life.
The parent of the child will be wrecked. The mother of the defendant is wrecked. Lives are torn asunder in every direction.
No matter the outcome, there is nothing the criminal justice system can do to offer any solace, to anyone. Maybe -- maybe the only thing of value that can be achieved by the system is that, after a determination of guilt - should there be one, a potential new victim may be spared.
I'm done with this shit. How can you all do this for decades? Be surrounded by such intense misery? I understand the honor of servicing the system, holding the state to its burden, standing up for the most despicable, or on the other side, fighting for a verdict that the victim can hold and feel assured, "I was heard, I am not a liar."
But my God. To inhabit this space 50 or more hours a week, every week until the end of your life?
Im done with this shit. I salute you veterans who make a life of this. I dont know how you do it. Im out.
The simple answer is to not handle sex crimes in general and child sex crimes in particular. Those will suck the life blood out of you quicker than anything else. And drive you to drink or drink more than you already do.
Any word on Shumie-Bowl parties springing up with some REN (a venue) type menus? I missed the last two b/c of covid and my partner who went last year said the OONI gas fired pizza oven was turning out amazing hand made pizzas and jerk chicken wings and pizza rolls.
You spelled Robert Moses wrong idiot. It's Rupert Moisesssess
You gotta get a digital invite and barcoded ticket for the Shumie-Bowl party and then the day before they will release the secret location.
In regards to 3:28 PM’s comment,
The issue is hardly simple. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to defend some of these people. How do I strive for righteousness while defending evil? Some of the clients and cases are wonderful and I enjoy representing them yet some are so reprehensible to even talk to. Some of the clientele are so difficult, unreasonable and amoral that it’s challenging to maintain professionalism. I have noticed over the years that there is a developing subculture that’s impossible to deal with. We are in the business of misery where it’s hard to stave off that some sentiment intruding into your own personal life. 3:28, I respect you by bringing out a ever increasing dilemma for the criminal defense lawyer
It’s spelled Bouks -n- Bouks moron
If you really believe people are evil or good you probably shouldn't do the work. In my opinion sex crimes are the most unexamined crimes in terms of actual innocence. Many good lawyers don't want to handle them as Rumpole advised. The evidentiary standards are lower. The presumption of innocence is basically nonexistent when a jury hears the accusations. It is not difficult to falsely accuse someone of a sex crime and ruin their life, and it absolutely happens. A mother who hates an ex and a child who never liked him anyway can be a dangerous combination.
About twenty years ago, I filed a domestic case wherein, in the words of the late, great Manny Crespo, I’d “thrown the book at the defendant.” The parties were barreling toward trial with little chance of settling when the PD said something that I think gives some perspective to your dilemma. He said if we had to go trial, “Let’s do it with dignity.” If prosecutors as well as defense attorneys are honest, I mean brutally, no bullshit honest in their assessment of cases, if they show respect for the humanity of all concerned, if they recognize the justice system is not there for anything or anyone other than itself and they therefore must bring compassion to the party and recognize that human beings are on the other side of the sentence as well as the criminal act, and finally, if they realize that life isn’t fair so they should be there will be dignity in the most tragic and horrific of circumstances. And as Sun Tsu said, “If you maintain your dignity in battle, what can you lose.”
And the dignity the community sees in criminal court can mend the tear in the fabric of the community that crime creates.
3:28 p.m.: Yes, there is great sorrow in the world of criminal law. Perhaps you will consider how hard it must be to work at a trauma center, with foster children, homeless children, a pediatric oncology ward or any cancer hospital. Perhaps working with agencies and charities that deal with starving people in various places around the world is also difficult. There is, indeed, misery everywhere. I too have been doing this much longer than you and sometimes find it difficult. I try to apply Joseph Campbell's philosophy about this which is basically to participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world because we cannot cure them but we can choose to live in joy and thereby bring a little comfort, joy and hope to those who are suffering as we provide a small amount of help in their lives.
At "sexy blonde PD" guy, he publishes the comments after fixing the spelling errors without talking about it. #gaslighting
@328 - when I was a young associate in my 20s, up to my ears in it, and not even remotely mature enough to handle the pressure; I lashed out at my father one day. He patiently responded, I've often wondered whether the practice of law attracts jerks or creates them. Almost 20 years later, I know the answer - the practice of law creates jerks. You cannot do zealous adversarial work in a system like ours without becoming cynical.
I know a lot of the old timers have made the practice of law their life and that there are some lawyers out there who survive in one piece (DOM seems to be an example, but he's still not quite old, and I am not privy to what happens in his home). But most of the old timers I see end up miserable, multiple times divorced, often drunk, and alienated from their kids.
Personally, I have checked out of the practice of law. I do the work in good faith - I write the briefs, and argue the motions and the rest of it. But I just don't care anymore. I clock out at the end of the day like Fred Flinstone. If the clients call or email on the weekend or after hours, fuck'em. And if my clients hang or go bankrupt, whatever. I'm having dinner with my family tonight and not losing a minute of sleep over my clients anymore. Does that make me a bad lawyer? Maybe. But it makes me a better son to my dad who didn't deserve how I treated him, it makes a me a better husband to my second wife than I was to my first wife (she didn't deserve that fat, drunk, stressed out jerk in her life), and it makes me a better dad to my kids who I make time for and for whom I have patience and kindness.
What gets me is not necessarily the clients, but the family members. The spouses and the parents. The people who cannot fathom any degree of accountability on behalf of their loved one who, direct all their frustration, all their ire, all their vitriol, a you, the attorney, not their husband or son, who may have committed an atrocious crime for no good reason and who is facing charges where in the evidence is overwhelming. Not for a second is there any consideration that maybe the client did something to put himself in this untenable situation. Only you, the lawyer, who was paid money, and is therefore expected to perform miracles. And sooner or later, they will turn on you and they will hire their loved one another lawyer, to write the rule three against you and not once did these people ever stop to think that their loved one has even the slightest modicum of blame in the situation. I cannot get past the level of denial and some of these family members. That is one of the most difficult aspects of his job .
I guess I am an old-timer since I've been in this business since 1987 and doing defense work since 1991. I'v been married since 1988 and successfully raised 4 kids. I try to be meticulous about my health, purposefully stay away from law events on my own time and have many outside interests and hobbies. While I would never take out any anxiety over the profession onto my family, it is definitely getting more challenging to deal with being a defense lawyer. I am imperfect and have not always been a model practioner...is that because of my personality or is that a byproduct of an adversarial system ? Do I sometimes get too aggressive in representing somebody or does success in the business mandate a certain amount of overaggressive behavior? There is, no doubt, an accurate adage of "the best defense may have to be an aggressive offense". In hindsight, perhaps a big problem are the lawyers themselves; this a brutal, cutthroat business where some lawyers will stab you in the back in a heartbeat and have no qualms about cannibalizing each other. More professionalism would make the profession better. A stronger fraternal bond among us lawyers would absolutely improve things. As Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility". Or... am I suffering from a "grass is greener" situation? Despite some of the negatives of the profession, the positives far outweigh them. I have lived a blessed life due to being an attorney!
A lot of the cases and circumstances we deal with are terrible wether you’re involved as an attorney or not. Being a defense attorney is as important job as there is. The system depends on you, your client depends on you and everyone involved with the case is affected by you. A good attorney will have a positive affect on the case and everyone involved. If you don’t see yourself performing for a higher purpose you will not enjoy any job. We make better money than most workers, wear nice clothes and receive more respect than we deserve. The glass is more than half full, don’t fixate on the empty part.
The state got their ASS KICKED before de la o in a first degree murder case that took 12 years to try and as the prosecution walked outside the poo pr victim’s mother fainted and the the asshole prosecutor who spent years telling the court he was fighting for justice for the family was heard to say “I don’t have time for this shit” as he kept walking and didn’t stop to help her.
As Neil Rodgers would say UN Believable!
445, wear nice clothes? Are u joking? Do u wear lawyer clothes when u have a choice? Our mandated clothing is like a straightjacket.
The state didn’t just lose today in De La O. They got Shumied! First degree murder. Confession on video. And the jury believed it was coerced. They were blindsided by the PDs who kicked their arrogant asses back to heck and back.
I watched the trial and it was a shellacking that the state didn’t see coming because of that arrogant Castilian prosecutor no one can understand.
This wasn’t just a beat down. It was a Trump/Clinton type upset that left everyone shocked as the Santeria priestess just waltzed right out of court and said “bye bye baby” to the ASA and laughed and went home. Talk about being beaten. This was Philly- San Fran. Thank s was Ali- Chuck Wepner. Thus was the 69 Mets winning in five. The state was absolutely stunned. It was a pleasure to witness.
We were all watching in the PDS office. The state was like “the jury didn’t say not guilty. Juries aren’t allowed to vote not guilty in a first degree murder case”. They got a beat down they will not soon forget. It was a thing of beauty. Some arrogant Homicide detective who destroyed his mites and didn’t record the PREINTERVIEW. WTF is a pre interview ? It’s just an interview the cops don’t want to record. And they got their asses kicked for doing it. Not that they will change.
They didn’t just get Shumied. They got the ol Huck-a-buck to boot. It was brutal.
Those two prosecutors including a supervisor forgot the very first lesson you should learn in the REGJB- Its not the Shumie you know but the Shumie you don’t know that gets you in trial every time.
This case was locked and loaded from the get go. It was like the prosecutors were a bunch of kick tourists in Vegas sitting down to play some friendly poker at Ars me with guys named Doyle Brunson and Phil Helmuth. In other words after the jury was selected they had no chance.
If you grew up in Brooklyn in those days like I did you will know that that book is revisionist BS.
As someone who does Rule 3s. In my experience very few family members of guilty people think they are innocent. They generally think the sentence is unfair. Often it is. They generally love the person they are supporting and want to do what they can. Personally I tell people at the beginning that the chances are low. But this is an avenue that exists and if you do not pursue it timely you will lose it.
Generally in this business I find if you are honest with people and treat the clients like human beings, you’ll be ok.
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