As I mentioned in late April, at the invitation of the Scalia family, Christopher J. Scalia (son of Justice and Mrs. Scalia) and I have been reviewing and selecting Justice Scalia’s best speeches for publication in a single-volume collection. I am very pleased to pass along that, as announced earlier today on the Corner, Crown Forum has arranged with the Scalia family to publish Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived. Even better, Scalia Speaks will be available very soon—on October 3, the Tuesday after the next Supreme Court term opens.
Scalia Speaks is designed for a general audience and is replete with Justice Scalia’s characteristic wisdom, clarity, and humor. There are a lot of great speeches on legal topics, all readily accessible to the non-lawyer. As the subtitle suggests, we’ve included many speeches on other topics: for example, faith, character, tradition, ethnicity, education, turkey hunting, and even the games and sports that a young Nino Scalia played on the streets of Queens in the 1940s. The book also features several of the Justice’s moving, and often funny, tributes to friends. Only a small handful of the dozens of speeches in the book have ever been published before.
My hopeful expectation is that a very broad swath of readers will find the book a delight—a joy to read and a great gift for family, friends, and colleagues. Here’s a take from one non-lawyer who reviewed the manuscript:
Skimming through the speeches is like being bathed in a world of goodness, truth, and beauty. The humor, generosity, friendship, and love that shines from them is a balm in what is too often an ugly world.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—dear friend to Justice and Mrs. Scalia and subject of one of the Justice’s tributes—has generously volunteered a wonderful foreword, and Chris Scalia has written a poignant introduction.
Pre-order the book now. You’ll be very glad you did.