Anatomy of a writer

In his three years as a Michigan Supreme Court judge in the late 50s, John D. Voelker wrote an impressive 100 opinions. One of the most titillating was People v. Hildabridle in 1959, which involved a Battle Creek-area nudist camp. Voelker, who died in 1991, was decidedly offbeat, said his good friend and fellow fly fisherman and attorney, Frederick Baker.

Its that eccentricity that makes Voelkers decision so noteworthy, Baker said. Most (of his decisions) have a glimmer of the human being who wrote then within the text. You dont find that anymore. Today the court cranks out monstrosities that are pretentious and scholarly and that want to impose a philosophy.

The case may have faded into legal oblivion except that Voelker, writing under his pen name Robert Traver, had released his novel, Anatomy of a Murder, one year earlier. The book became a New York Times best seller, remaining on the list for 65 weeks 29 of which in the number one slot and spawned the hit Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name.

Phil Greasley, a former University of Kentucky English Professor and MSU graduate, will discuss Voelkers decision and its literary merits with MSU English Professor of James Seaton at 9 a.m. Saturday at the 44th meeting of the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. Clothing is required.

The movie in some ways mirrored Voelkers legal opinion in Hildabridle: Both confronted community standards of decency.

Anatomy of a Murder was banned in Chicago for its frank sexual content, and the Hildabridle case was controversial in its views on what constitutes indecent exposure and personal liberty.

Voelkers legacy is worth preserving especially as it delves into human thought, said Greasley by phone from Lexington, Ky. He writes in a shared draft of his presentation that Voelkers writing emphasizes lifes moral complexity, the gray areas of law and the ironies and hypocrisies that mark our lives.

(Voelkers legal opinions) reflect the identical values, concerns and principles that are included in his literary writing, Greasley writes. (He) consistently sought to maximize personal freedom and to minimize governmental intrusion on private lives.

Baker said that his favorite line of Voelkers is, If eccentricity were a crime, then all of us were felons. (Baker says he especially likes the double subjunctive.)

Voelker resigned from the Supreme Court to write another literary legal novel, Laughing Whitefish, which explores Native American treaty rights and a womans real fight to get compensation from iron ore companies. In tendering his resignation to Gov. G. Mennen Williams, Voelker wrote, While other men can write my legal opinions they can scarcely write my books. I am sorry.

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Anatomy of a writer