Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Happy 90th Birthday, to the Man Who Brought My Wife and Me Together
My wife and I met, dated, fell in love, and became engaged while clerking for William J. Holloway, Jr., then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, who celebrated his 90th birthday exactly one month ago today:
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/07/happy-90th-.html
Comments
Is clerking better than working for a big law firm, as far as finding a wife or a husband? (I can see why clerking for the Supreme Court is so desirable:9 judges with several clerks each!)
This is joking, but as far as future happiness goes, making a good marriage is more important than anything else you do in your first year on the job.
Posted by: Eric Rasmusen | Jul 23, 2013 12:42:07 PM
I also clerked for Judge Holloway, who is, as you say, a gentleman in the truest, old Southern style, sense of the word. He was also an advocate of civil rights when that position was not popular.
I had never been to Oklahoma and did not know Judge Holloway when I first started clerking for him. I remember driving through El Paso, Texas, being able to get only country western stations on the radio, and thinking, "Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into?"
However, when I got to Oklahoma City and actually had a chance to sit in Judge Holloway's chambers, the first thing I noticed was a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt hanging on the wall. The second was his appointment certificate, signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, hanging nearby. Needless to say, I was very relieved, and my clerkship with Judge Holloway turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.
Even though I regretfully missed his recent 90th birthday celebration, I wish him all the best, for many years to come.
Posted by: Jerry Lampton | Jul 23, 2013 8:57:59 AM
I clerked for Judge Holloway in 1996-97, which meant that I was being considered for the clerkship in the spring of 1995. Yep, right when Timothy McVeigh parked his truck bomb and blasted the Murrah Federal Building. Fortunately, no one on the Federal Courthouse was harmed, and I got the offer and accepted. Oklahoma City was as far east as I'd ever lived at that point -- and my naivety is such that I figured the winters wouldn't be too cold, since OKC's latitude was about the same as Santa Barbara's. . . .
Like Paul Caron, I met my future wife during the clerkship, though in my case, not in OKC; rather, I was back in L.A. visiting some law school friends for a weekend when we needed a fourth player for a game of Hearts.
Anyway, Jerry Lampton's comments about Judge Holloway's being the perfect gentleman are spot on.
Posted by: Tung Yin | Jul 23, 2013 9:53:52 PM