Nina Totenberg Fan Club

Oh, boy, the Supreme Court is swinging back into action, with cases coming up on the death penalty and requiring IDs for voting. But more than the issues, the thing I look forward to the most is hearing Nina Totenberg's reporting on the sessions on NPR.

Totenberg is one of the best radio journalists because she really understands Stan Freberg's idea that radio is the theater of the mind. She recounts the give and take between the justices and the lawyers, and you almost feel as if you were there.

But in addition to her well-known legal reporting, I heard a great story of hers back in November, which gave me some insight into her background. She began by setting the scene at a concert hall, where she was about to hear the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Looking down at the program, she realized the Concerto had first been performed by that orchestra in 1935 by her own father, Roman Totenberg.

He was newly arrived in the U.S. at the time, having recently performed for the king of Italy. After that performance, he was required to back off the stage, so as not to turn his back on the king. He found a great contrast (and one much to his liking) when Eleanor Roosevelt hosted him for dinner in the White House residence, sitting on the floor around a coffee table. "This is the country for me," he thought, his daughter reports. Now 97, he is still teaching violin at Boston University.

I think I was late for work the morning that story was on Morning Edition.

Nina Totenberg: Lessons from My Father