Midday Margins Blog: The Reading Life of SD Chief Justice David Gilbertson

The first time I interviewed South Dakota Chief Justice David Gilbertson, we were in Pierre, and I was still getting lost in the Capitol building as I tried to gain my bearings. We talked about the upcoming legislative session and, for whatever reason, I kept wanting to ask him what he was reading. He just seemed like a reader to me – a deep, thoughtful communicator with books. It’s generally not a great idea to ask a guest what they are reading on air unless you’ve given them fair warning. So I let the distraction pass. A reading life is, by its nature, a private life. We open a book. We fall in. If we are very lucky, we emerge transformed. Asking someone about their reading life seems like a superficial request, but it’s not. You’re really asking for a glimpse of an inner life – the most private landscape of all. I waited until we were finished with the broadcast. We took off our headphones. And then I asked … What are you reading right now? We talked books for quite a while. The