M A S S A C H U S E T T S
LAW YERS JOURNAL Volume 23 | Number 6 | Mar/Apr 2016
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ANNUAL DINNER KEYNOTE SPEAKER
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ward-winning novelist and screenwriter Dennis Lehane will deliver the keynote address at the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Annual Dinner on Thursday, April 28, at the Westin Boston Waterfront. Born and raised in Dorchester, Lehane has published more than 12 novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and become international bestsellers. Some of Lehane’s novels showcase both Boston and the criminal justice system. Lehane recently took part in a Q&A session about his literary career. Where do you get your ideas for characters? From growing up in Boston? Lehane: I honestly have no idea. I rarely base anyone even a tiny bit on anyone I’ve known, so it’s not like I can draw a chart from Jimmy Marcus, say, to some guy I used to play baseball with at Savin Hill park. At the end of the day, it’s all about imagination. I sit in a room, stare at the ceiling and conjure stuff up. That’s the job.
MASTER STORYTELLER RETURNS TO BOSTON
MBA TEAMS WITH INNOVATIVE LEGAL PAGE 16 INCUBATOR ON WORKSHOP
Your stories always seem to be more than just a crime novel — they have an underlying moral or message. Why is that important? Does the moral come before the idea for the characters/plot? Lehane: I’m not sure I’d agree that my stories have morals at the end; that seems something better left to Aesop and Sunday homilies. But all good fiction, I’d 4
DIAL-A-LAWYER: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS PAGE 9
INSIDE
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Your initial books were detective stories, but then some of your books went in different directions (with more of a focus on a family). What prompted the change in direction? Lehane: It was always an organic process. There was never a plan. I don’t like to repeat myself, so even in the detective series, each book has a different mood and was toying with different aspects of the sub-genre of the P.I. novel. And then when I was done with it, I was done with it. Onto “Mystic River.” After that was done, I felt like I needed a break from urban novels in general and thought I’d try my hand at a gothic, which is how “Shutter Island” came about. Then it was, “I always liked big fat historical epics. …” And so on.
PRESIDENT'S VIEW
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GETTING DISCOVERED ONLINE
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MASSBAR BULLETIN
SEE PAGE 2 FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF THIS ISSUE’S CONTENTS.