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The idea for a "Half-Norwegian (on the Mother's Side) American Bar Assn." was hatched one night in 1989 by lawyer/journalist Roger M. Grace while his wife was attending a meeting of the Italian American Lawyers Assn. Grace pounded out a column in which he bemoaned that half-Norskies such as he had no bar association of their own, and jokingly vowed to form one, to meet every 17th of May. A friend of his, then-attorney Larry Crispo
(later a Superior Court judge), clipped the
column from the Metropolitan News-Enterprise
and sent it to Grace, with the suggestion
scribbled on it that such a group actually
meet.
It did, in late The president of the Los Angeles City Council, John Ferraro (since deceased), did understand that it was for real. He came with a congratulatory scroll from the city. The question that loomed at what was billed as the "first annual meeting" was whether there would be a second annual meeting. It's met every year since. Among those who have served as president is Earl Johnson Jr., then a justice of the Court of Appeal (now retired).
The election of Johnson was remarkable for
another reason. It followed accusations
against him of pilfering funds from the club
treasury. That accusation was levelled by Fred
Woods, then the club's treasurer. He did know
something of Johnson's propensities, being a
member of the same appeals court
division. Woods reported to the gathering that there was a $10,000 deficit in the treasury and pointed the finger at his predecessor in that office, Johnson, who, he noted, had taken a recent trip with his wife, Barbara, to Italy. After the organization rebuffed Woods' call for formation of a blue-ribbon committee to look into possible malefaction by Johnson, it elected Johnson president. Woods — who was reelected treasurer — pledged to personally probe his fellow jurist's conduct. At the 1997 meeting, instead of rendering the anticipated Woods Report, the treasurer was missing, and no information on the current state of the treasury was submitted by him.
Precedent should be followed, he proclaimed, with the suspected defalcator being granted the presidency. Woods was elected with no opposition. And at the 1998 meeting, he presided. Woods reported, in his native Texan drawl, that he "didn't realize the influence of the Vikings" until recently when he learned that a Viking ship was uncovered in the Canadian River in the panhandle of Texas. That, apparently, made the ol' Texas boy mighty proud to hold his office.
Court of Appeal Justice Fred Woods, left, relinquishes the reins to the 1998-99 president, then-Los Angeles Municipal Court Presiding Judge Veronica McBeth (later a member of the Superior Court. now retired).
Woods was succeeded as president by then-Los Angeles Municipal Court Presiding Judge
Veronica Simmons McBeth. She's an African
American. That is not to say that she
necessarily lacks Nordic blood. The May 8,
2000 issue of Time Magazine notes that the Vikings
"reached Rome, Baghdad, the Caspian Sea,
probably Africa too." Africa is, after all,
just south of Italy — and there is no doubt
that the Vikings did reach The Boot.
The 1999 meeting featured a talk by Los
Angeles Municipal Court Judge Michael Kellogg on football Hall-of-Famer Jan Stenerud, who was born in
Norway. A stadium atmosphere was
created with the serving of hot dogs — er,
polser, that is. This was a first for the posh
Bernard's Restaurant at the Biltmore. At the 1999 meeting, McBeth pointed out that among those elected at the first meeting, 10 years earlier, was Mike Smith, a non-lawyer businessman, chosen to be minute secretary. He remained at his post for 10 years, though he attended only one other meeting and never provided a set of minutes. She suggested the important task be rotated to some other person, and recommended one of the newest members, Daniel Anderson, who sits on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and is half-Norwegian (on his mother's side). He was elected to the customary 10-year term. He did not attend a single meeting and thus did not bore the participant through the reading of minutes.
Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Paul Arthur Turner is among the regulars at these annual meetings. In 2000, he was absent. Unanimously, he was elected president. In 2001, another regular — though many describe him as "irregular" — Larry Crispo was among the missing. Maybe his absence was a ploy to get elected president. If so, it worked. The point was raised that Crispo had served as president previously (while an attorney). However, Turner, who was presiding, joined with Johnson in proclaiming term limits to be unconstitutional. This was probably the first time the arch conservative Turner and the arch liberal Johnson have ever been in agreement on anything.
The event, long held at the Biltmore, was in a new venue:
McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurant. The chef was Ray Hayes, who is half-Norwegian...and on his mother's side! The
feast was fantastic, highlighted by lefse fresh from the
griddle, served with headcheese, and gravalax which had been
marinated by Hayes in aquavit. Included on an appetizer platter were shrimp, crab, oysters, and fresh caviar. The entrees were a half roasted duck and Norwegian sausage, served with red cabbage. The chef prepared a pastry for dessert drenched in aquavit. Hayes came out to join the group at the end of the meeting for its traditional aquavit toast to the king of Norway. As might have been predicted, the event was again held at that restaurant on May 17, 2002, as it has been since. And once again in 2002, the club showed its egalitarianism by electing as president a lawyer who is half Norwegian on his father's side. Charles Morgan (son of actor Harry Morgan) came to the meeting for the first time and, naturally, was welcomed into the group by his being unanimously elected president.
Given that he's not a lawyer or a judge, his election was contrary to the bylaws. However, one prominent lawyer later suggested that the election of Baca constituted an implied amendment of the bylaws. In 2004, Crispo once again presided. That's because President Baca didn't show up and nobody remembered who had been elected vice president the previous year. The minute secretary had not attended the meeting. These Wisconsin Court of Appeals justices are simply unreliable! Attorney Sarah Gorman was there for the second time. She delivered a Norwegian table prayer — in Norwegian. That endeared her to the group which elected her president. In 2005, an evening buffet reception was held in celebration of 100 years of Norway's full independence. Those attending indicated a preference for holding the annual meeting at night henceforth. (Of course, only those present, who found it convenient to come in the evening, voted; those who couldn't make it at that time didn't vote.) Cheryl Johnson, who says she is "a lot Norwegian" on her mother's side and some Norwegian on her father's side, was chosen president.
The following year, the guest speaker was Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski. He talked about his favorite topic, himself. He did not share any of the jokes or cartoons that were then on his personal website. Andy Lundberg — whose mother was a Norwegian spy during World War II — ascended to the presidency. 2008: Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger delivered humorous remarks, and retired Superior Court Judge Ken Chotiner was elected president. Executive chef Ray Hayes, who now works at McCormick & Schmick's Burbank location, made a special appearance to prepare the food for the event. For the first time, the event was audio-recorded. To hear what went on, CLICK HERE In 2009, the cuisine was superb...which means that Hayes was again brought in from Burbank for that one day. The speaker was Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley who had been the subject of deprecation at the meeting seven years earlier by founder Roger M. Grace in connection with a raid of newspaper offices. But, after all, the Irish are too endearing to stay angry at. They are, as Cooley acknowledged in his remarks, blessed by Norse blood in their veins. They are beneficiaries of the visits to Norway by Vikings who, in interplay with Irish lasses, benificently bestowed their genes on them. Well, that's not quite how Cooley put it. Cooley was elected president. Another significient election took place: that of minute secretary. Yes, the 10-year term of Daniel Anderson — now presiding judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals — had come to an end. There were three nominees, but the one who prevailed, nominated by former Los Angeles County District Attorney Robert H. Philibosian, was David Souter, former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Souter does not engage in e-mail communication, so the association had no up-to-date method of communicating with him to apprise him of the honor that has been bestowed upon him. So, this website announcement must here and now serve as notice. All persons in contact with Souter are urged to apprise him of the honor that has been bestowed upon him and advise that he contact us at once to ascertain the duties he is to perform.
Half-Norwegian (on the Mother's Side) American Bar
Assn.
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May of that year, convening at
the Biltmore Hotel. Elected as the first
president was then-Los Angeles Municipal Court
Judge Robert Swasey (since deceased) —
who was half-Norwegian on his mother's
side. Swasey noted he almost didn't come, thinking
the meeting announcement that he saw may have
been a gag.
Presiding over that meeting, Vice President
George Schiavelli, then a member of the Los
Angeles Superior Court (later a federal judge, now a private judge), pointed out that Woods' absence
"might suggest that we still have
improprieties in our organization."
Then came Schiavelli's turn as president.
He had practiced for the post by
previously serving as president of the
Italian American Lawyers Assn. It was
fitting that someone of Italian heritage
be president. After all, Italians are born
followers of Norwegians. Leif Ericson
discovered America, around the year
1002, and Chrisopher Columbus followed in
his footsteps a half millenium later,
utilizing Norse maps.
At the 2003 meeting, the guest speaker was Los
Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. His scheduled
topic was: "That Great American Lawman, Eliot
Ness." Perhaps the sheriff had a gulp of aquavit
prior to his talk; he never mentioned Ness.
Instead, he lauched into a stirring talk from the
heart about the need for integrity in law
enforcement — prompting those present to elect him
president by unanimous acclamation.
At the 2006 meeting Tamila Jensen was elected to lead the organization. She is part Danish and part Swedish. The membership no doubt took pity on her. Denmark and Sweden...so near to Norway, and yet so far. It cannot be easy going through life as an almost-Norwegian.