I spent most of law school taking any available public interest law courses  (my professor in the sex discrimination clinical seminar was Justice Ginsburg) and avoiding selling out (wearing a McGovern for President button to job interviews for summer jobs at fancy law firms was very effective in avoiding temptation).  As a result, after graduating in 1974, I clerked for a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey, worked for a lawyer in Montclair (first black lawyer in town with a largely criminal practice).  Since this was clearly not the career for me, I ended up working for the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.  The only positive things I can say about this job was that it did not involve selling out and left me a lot of time to do other things in my life. 

 Meanwhile, I had become very involved in politics, starting with the McCarthy campaign in 1968.  This covered campaigns for everything from president to municipal elections in Montclair  (which are the same year as presidential elections as some of you know from prior parental involvement).  Although I became very skilled and found this much more interesting than legal work, I decided that this was not a way to make a living, so I stuck with my boring legal job.  (Immediately thereafter, politicians started paying people unbelievable amounts of money to run their campaigns.) However,  because of my involvement, on March 22, 1976 I received a call inviting me to a meeting to discuss the presidential election that night.  At the meeting Lois Hull, someone who I had not formally met prior to that date but who I knew had moved to Montclair recently (1972) and had become involved in local politics, was giving a presentation on delegate selection to the 1976 Democratic convention.  Having discovered someone who knew as much as I did about political conventions, I overcame my usual shyness and went out for a drink after the meeting.  Lois was in the process of separating from and divorcing her husband.  She has 2 children (David, then age 7, and Sarah, then age 4).  We started dating instantly and since we were both working on the same presidential and municipal election campaigns we were seeing each other constantly.  In spite of the quick start to this relationship, things then moved very gradually.  Although the relationship had normal ups and downs, I was very persistent in not losing someone who knew about political conventions and was otherwise ideal for me.  In November, 1983, after a mere seven and one-half years, we managed to reach the point of buying a house together in Montclair. 

 In 1978, I decided to run for Charter Study Commissioner in Montclair.  Being totally bored with my job, I refused to be considered for a slate of candidates since I felt their selection method was undemocratic.  So I ran as an independent.  There were 14 candidates running for 5 positions.  I spent weekends and every day after work knocking on doors.  Lois was my campaign manager.  I came in fifth, all but one of the members of the slate I had refused to be a part of winning the other positions.  The Charter Study Commission recommended that Montclair change to a Council-Manager form of government which was adopted by the voters in 1979. 

 In the midst of campaigning, I took a civil service job and was hired as a lawyer by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in October, 1978.  There were several lawyers hired at the same time and we were given a choice as to which program we wanted to work on.  Knowing Governor Byrne's interest in protecting the Pinelands, I chose the central pine barrens critical area  program.  This choice determined my working career until the present.

More to come...