Solomon biographer guest at literary solon

By Paul Haist

Portland writer and historian Harry H. Stein will discuss his new biography of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gus J. Solomon June 25 when the Writer and Scholars Lecture Series here partners with the Institute for Judaic Studies to host a literary salon in a local home.
Judge Solomon, who lived from 1906 to 1987, was the longest serving federal judge in Oregon. He has been described as a grassroots liberal leader who helped shape the way Oregonians live.
After working for two decades as a legal and political activist in the 1930s and 1940s, Solomon was appointed in 1950 to the U.S. District Court for Oregon where he presided until the year of his death.
Stein's biography of Solomon, "Gus J. Solomon: Liberal Politics, Jews and the Federal Courts," is due out from the Oregon Historical Society Press this month.
According to preliminary publicity, Stein tells the story of a smart and combative judge against the changing backdrop of twentieth-century American law, politics, and life.
In a pre-publication review of the book published online by the Oregon State Bar (http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/06apr/heritage.html), Willamette University College of Law visiting professor Dr. William R. Long wrote, "Stein's book is ambitious, and necessarily so, because he needed to place Solomon in the context of the Jewish experience in Portland in the 20th century, the growth of large law firms, the public power movement, the dizzying array of leftist bodies and the growth of American law as it affected Oregon."
Stein, who moved to Portland in the late 1970s, has collaborated with E. Kimbark MacColl on the latter's highly regarded work on Portland history, according to Long. He notes also that Stein brought to the decade-long Solomon project his experience as a public historian for law firms and other groups for which his gift for uncovering "abstruse historical references in obscure places" was of value.
Long is critical of some aspects of the book, including its paucity of information about the judge's family life.
"One would have hoped that the family would have been more forthcoming with interviews or information that showed Gus as a father and husband, as well as judge and lawyer," wrote Long.
However, in the main, Long was long on praise for Stein's book.
"This is an outstanding book, one worthy of serious discussion and consideration. I wouldn't be surprised if it is a serious contender for the Oregon Book Award for 2006," said Long.
The upcoming literary salon discussion of "Gus J. Solomon: Liberal Politics, Jews and the Federal Court" is billed as an intimate evening with a local author and is limited to the first 20 persons who make reservations. The Sunday evening event will begin at 7 p.m.
To make reservations call 503-244-4473 or e-mail Sylvia Frankel at frankel@lclark.edu.
Those making reservations will be advised of the location of the salon.