A book review for 'The Manuscripts Club' by Christopher de Hamel washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Warren Allen Smith, whose great-grandfather was an Irish-American named Curran, has compiled a 1200 page compendium with the fascinating title Who's Who in Hell
The appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court last October brought to light two distinctly different friendships.
One was between Barrett and a late Justice of the Court, Antonin Scalia, a fellow Catholic of serious belief and practice. Barrett was mentored by Scalia during her time as law clerk, and was strongly influenced by his legacy of constitutional interpretation.
A more surprising friendship was that between Scalia and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a secular Jew, who died in September 2020 and whom Barrett succeeded on the Supreme Court. Their friendship rested on a deep divergence of worldviews. While they differed markedly on legal judgments, they maintained a relationship of respect and camaraderie.