There were a few adjustments that needed to be made. For example, I studied till quite late every night, and Marilyn would go to bed. In order for me to get from my desk when I was finished studying to hit the bathroom before going to bed, I had to literally walk over the bed where she was sleeping. However, we were both young in those days—she didn’t stir and I didn’t trip!
Another humorous story from these days concerns Marilyn’s experience with a gas stove. At her parents’ home they had always used an electric stove, so Marilyn had no experience with a gas stove until we moved here. Just as her family had done at home, Marilyn stored items such as cereal and bread in the lower drawer of the stove. Of course, this turned out also to be the broiler! So, the first time Marilyn turned on the broiler, not really understanding where or what it was, everything in it burned up. No harm done and a good lesson learned!
This was a disarmingly idyllic little place, close to the ocean and in a very rural area. We lived there through a glorious New England fall. Then we both began to focus on the fact that fall would turn into winter, and we had to drive into the city each day. So we decided it was time to move. So our next stop was the spot where we lived the rest of our time in New Haven, 320 Edgewood Avenue. I’ll have more to say about that later.
Our other major challenge was also successfully met when Marilyn found a terrific job as an assistant to the Dean of the School of Fine Arts. Marilyn was a great secretary (that’s what they called executive assistants in those days) and, as everyone who knows her knows, was (and is) great with people. So, this job worked out wonderfully for her and also exposed her to many top people in the School of Art, Music, and Architecture. She always laughingly said that her specialty was uncorking wine bottles for the seemingly endless stream of cocktail parties and receptions that took place at the school. This was only one of her skills, and as with everything else, she did it with great aplomb!
Our home at 320 Edgewood Avenue had three rooms—a living room, bedroom, and kitchen, but they were separate rooms connected by a central hallway. So, to go from the bedroom to the kitchen, for example, meant going out in the hall. This was really no big deal, however, because there was only one other couple living in the building in addition to the landlord and his wife. We loved this place and, as I said before, lived there for all three years in New Haven. Our landlady and landlord were delightful people and were wonderful to us, making our lives both richer and much simpler.
CHAPTER V
Yale Law School
MY THREE YEARS at Yale Law School changed my life. I know that is a strong statement, but it is true. First of all, Marilyn and I were newly married, looking for our first “home,” meeting scores of new people, and beginning our married life in a part of the country that neither one of us had ever even visited.
Beyond that, I was about to become part of the first-year class that included the smartest people I had ever known. They had all been top students at their undergraduate schools, and I quickly realized that the competition would be strong. Indeed, in my very first class, I learned that the fellow on my left had been first in his class at Yale College, and the fellow on my right had been tops in his class at Notre Dame. When I got home that night, I told Marilyn this and then said, “Don’t unpack our stuff yet! I’m not sure how long we’ll be here!” I was also exposed to a covey of professors who were national and international scholars of superb reputations and records.
Our political views also were about to be challenged. Both of us had come from small Midwestern towns and conservative families. Now we became part of a community of liberal thinkers from big-city backgrounds. At first this was a little unsettling, but it probably did more to mold our thinking and teach us respect for other people’s views than we had ever imagined. However, I never lost the fundamental ideas and influences of my upbringing. Indeed, one of the most exciting things I was involved in was the formation of the Conservative Society of the Yale Law School. We wanted to remind our classmates that there was a philosophy different from theirs and that the Yale Law School needed to understand and entertain some of these thoughts and ideas. The experience was great fun, partly because it infuriated many of our liberal friends. We were thrilled to attract five or six well-known conservative figures to the law school to make speeches. Our kick-off speaker was William F. Buckley, Jr., who had just stirred things up in the Yale community for publishing his controversial book God and Man at Yale. I had the great privilege and fun of having dinner with Buckley after his speech and being absolutely astonished at his ability to communicate his views. I hope that the Conservative Society, in some form, continues at the law school to this day. If it doesn’t, it should.
Meanwhile, Marilyn and I were settling in, making friends (primarily with the other married couples), and enjoying immensely living in New Haven. For example, many of the plays and musicals that were headed for Broadway tried out in the Schubert Theater in New Haven. We bought third-balcony seats for practically nothing (binoculars were a must) and saw an incredible array of shows while we were in New Haven. Some of them went on to be great Broadway hits and others were never heard from again.
I HAD MANY memorable experiences during my academic career at Yale—such as the time I was running late for a final exam in property law and forgot to bring the course textbook with me. This may seem trivial, except that it was an open-book exam! I managed to survive by borrowing a book from a student who had taken the exam the day before.
But if I had to pick one episode as the most memorable of my law school years, it would probably be my involvement in the Moot Court finals. Moot Court was a program in which every student argued cases in an elimination process that ultimately led to four students surviving and arguing before a very distinguished panel of judges in the “finals.” I was fortunate to be in that group of four, and we argued before three judges—a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (Tom Clark), the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and Bruce Bromley, an outstanding trial lawyer from one of the large New York City law firms.
My colleagues were extraordinary. My partner was a fellow named Gordon Spivack, one of the most intelligent human beings I have ever known. He went on to be a significant figure in the Anti-Trust Division of the Department of Justice. Our opponents were two equally impressive classmates—Charlie Haight, who went on to become a U.S. Circuit Court Judge and Bill Dempsey, a standout speaker and debater who had led his class at Notre Dame, later clerked for Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and had a very distinguished legal career. I was excited but extremely nervous. My mother and dad came from Ohio to watch the argument, and I worked extremely hard to prepare. Although I was intellectually ready, physically I was struggling. I had done a lot of public speaking, but I had never done anything quite like this, and I must confess that I was intimidated by the quality of the three-judge panel and by my opponents. Though I have never admitted it publicly, I spent a half hour or more before we left home soaking in a tub of hot water to attempt to calm my frazzled nerves. Marilyn of course was supportive and helpful and continued to reassure me that I would not make an idiot of myself.
To make a long story short, everything went very well. Once into the arguments, the nerves went away, and the “thrill of the game” made it a very memorable evening. In the final judging, Bill Dempsey was recognized as the best, and I came in second. Although I have never been thrilled when coming in second, in this case I had no qualms or reservations. Bill Dempsey was a fantastic speaker and debater and deserved the honor. I felt privileged to snuggle up to him in second place. Bill remains a dear friend, and I admire him as much today as I did then.
As my third year began to wind down, all of my thoughts turned to getting a job. Representatives of firms from all over the country came to the law school, and we students signed up for interviews with those firms in which we had an interest. Although I interviewed with several big-city firms, I knew that I really wanted to return to Ohio. Both my parents and Marilyn’s were living, and we had many, many friends in the area. This turned out to be easier