Book Talk

Yesterday afternoon I was interviewed before a friendly crowd of friends, colleagues, clients, and a few other curious people about my new book, Moments Out of Time, a kaleidoscope of stories about childhood, my own and others’. The event, my third at the Hedges Inn in East Hampton, turned into a discussion about the evolution of my writing over the last several years, as I explored topics ranging from fishing to finding my place in life and revisiting memorable moments from my youth. During the Q&A, I was prompted to do a deep dive into places I have not talked about in a long time—such as the influence of my late wife and the effect of her passing on my creative life. The moderator was my son-in-law, Peter Soriento, who, knowing me as well as he does, took the liberty to ask personal questions, opening the discussion to a full bandwidth of the issues I have dealt with over the past nine years. Writing has been a means of dealing with grief as well as finding the way back to a place of optimism for the future even late in life. Standing before a group of 60 people and talking about personal details can cause one to feel exposed in a way, but the goodwill and enthusiasm of the crowd put me at ease. It was an afternoon of friendship and affection from the audience and from me to those who came to spend an hour with me not as a lawyer, but as a writer.