Alan Dershowitz and Larry Ruttman

Professor Alan Dershowitz will keynote a discussion with author Larry Ruttman on his just published oral history about American Judaism and baseball, American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball.

The book includes a story on Alan in which Larry drew him out about his unpromising teen years, of which he said, "I was a (in Yiddish) a bahn-dit, a bandit, a real bad kid. I got into a lot of trouble. I spent most of my high school years just playing basketball, flirting with girls, telling jokes, and trying to make fools of the teachers." Kirkus Reviews says Larry's book is, "An idiosyncratic collection of interviews with American Jews....(in which he) remains a gentle, always enthusiastic questioner, interested in his subjects' love for the game, ....and their connection to their faith.... Almost always charming, occasionally enlightening and sometimes just plain odd." Alan is, of course, a prolific author, now writing his autobiography, and Larry wrote about his renowned hometown in the well received, Voices of Brookline (2005). A well-known former Major League Player may be added. Questions from the audience to these odd fellows will follow.