My father never left the courtroom. Even though investigation into his crusading Oklahoma law practice—where he had defended blacks, reds, and pinkos-—banned him from the Oregon bar decades ago, he has always stood with one foot before the bench.

No longer having a judge and jury in court, he endeavored to instill in his offspring the intricacies of logic, legalism, and leftism. Of his children he made only one demand: We were to save the world.