Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaves literary legacy
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a lifelong pioneer for gender equality and only the second woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
Hers was an enormous life, full of glass-ceiling-shattering accomplishments, impassioned dissents and pop culture dominance. When she died Friday at age 87, the public grieving came hard and fast. At the time of her passing, perhaps no public servant was more revered.
Such a life makes for a good book, or even six.
To better understand and appreciate the life of the late Justice, look to one of these books written by or about Ginsburg.
● “My Own Words,” by Ginsburg. This collection of Ginsburg’s writings and speeches goes as far back as the eighth grade, focusing on her efforts as a women’s rights crusader. She also recalls her friendly relationships with Republican Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia. From O’Connor, she learned to “waste no time on anger, regret or resentment, just get the job done”; from Scalia, to attack ideas, not people, because “some very good people have some very bad ideas.”
● “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. Inspired by the Tumblr that amused the Justice, this engaging take on Ginsburg explores the Supreme Court justice’s elevation to pop culture icon and queen of the internet. No other justice has been the subject of so many memes and “SNL” skits, with her face on coffee cups and tattooed on the bodies of adoring boomers and millennials alike.
● “Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law,” by Jeffrey Rosen. In a series of conversations with the head of the National Constitution Center, Ginsburg shares her thoughts on the #MeToo movement, the future of the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade, her favorite dissents and her hope that non-disclosure agreements, which have come under fire in sexual misconduct cases, “will not be enforced by the courts.”
● “The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong ... and You Can Too,” by Bryant Johnson. In her later years, Ginsburg became an unlikely fitness guru and worked out regularly with a personal trainer. In this illustrated exercise book, that trainer shares the secrets of Ginsburg’s workout, which helped keep her sprightly well into her 80s.
● “I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark,” by Debbie Levy. In this children’s picture book, young readers can follow the future justice from childhood to the Supreme Court: We see her as a lawyer facing workplace discrimination as a woman, a mother and a Jew. On each page, kids will witness Ginsburg’s dissenting in the face of injustice.
● “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life,” by Jane Sherron De Hart. Written by a historian, this comprehensive biography (it clocks in at over 700 pages) was 15 years’ worth of interviews and research in the making, and explores the experiences that shaped Ginsburg’s enduring passion for justice and gender equality, at the heart of which was her Jewish heritage.