November 12, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Santa Monica Author Writes Book On Ted Kennedy’s Legislature:

For Santa Monica resident Craig Horowitz, his recently published book “The Legislative Legacy of Edward M. Kennedy” is an achievement five years in the making.

Horowitz, who has been practicing employment law for 27 years, said one of his passions had always been history.

In the back of his mind, he said he “always wanted to go back and write history.”

For Horowitz, choosing a topic had to do with looking for an existing information lapse.

“I was looking for a topic to dive into and I knew that everything in the world had been written about John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, but I didn’t see very much about Ted Kennedy,” Horowitz said.

Thus, Ted became his focus for the book, which took five years to research and put together.

Horowitz noticed that beyond a lack of information on Ted, there was a lack of neutral information.

“I started reading the books that were out there about him and I found that they were either completely in his favor and he was a hero or they were completely negative and he was a criminal. I decided I wanted to do my own research and figure out what the truth was.”

A lot of his goals surrounded presenting the best version of the truth he could compile.

He does admit that he’s “always admired the Kennedys,” but said he kept an open mind and took a balanced approach to recording what Senator Kennedy achieved and what he didn’t achieve.

He credits a lot of the book’s successful narrative to the advice of his former history mentor at Brown University, where he attended, as well as a history teacher at Brown, who is now a famous historian.

“They got me on the path of writing the book narrower,” he said.

Pointing out that a sweeping history of Ted Kennedy throughout all of his 49 years in the legislature would be much too broad, his mentors guided him to focus on the aspects of Ted’s career Horowitz could most relate to as a lawyer: his 11 major pieces of legislation.

“Since I am a lawyer, every piece of legislation I printed out – and these are hundreds of pages long – I analyzed and tried to distill down so that it would be readable and interesting for non-academics, but also for academics,” he said.

His book is currently in 115 college libraries – a number that grows every day.

When writing the book, he took the time to look over each and every law that Ted Kennedy enacted, even older and not readily accessible ones, so as to make himself a more credible author.

“I think it just gives so much more credit to a book and to an analysis when instead of these folks on TV who give talking points that I actually read it,” he said. “What I write is a lot of quoting actual laws and the text of the laws that went into effect.”

When asked if he had plans to write another book in the future, he responded by saying “Oh, definitely.”

“This book was written over five years with a full time law practice and three teenagers in the house,” he said. “Now one’s not a teenager anymore and all three are going to college this year. It took nights and Sunday afternoons [to write this book] and I’m hoping that for my next book I’ll be able to devote more time to it since my kids will be in college.”

He concludes by saying that he’s “not planning on scaling back the law practice yet, but at some point I will try and devote more time – I just love writing history.”

The book, which is published by McFarland & Company, can be purchased for $35 online at www.mcfarlandbooks.com.

<>Related Posts

Film Review: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

July 19, 2023

July 19, 2023

FILM REVIEWMISSION IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONERated PG-13163 MinutesReleased July 11th The story in this “Mission: Impossible” chapter, “Dead...

Film Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

July 5, 2023

July 5, 2023

FILM REVIEWINDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINYRated PG-13154 MinutesReleased June 30th The director of Indiana Jones and the Dial...

Film Review: Past Lives

June 27, 2023

June 27, 2023

FILM REVIEWPAST LIVESRated PG-13105 MinutesLimited Releases June 2nd and June 9th, Full Release June 23rd The Korean concept of “In...

Film Review: Sanctuary

June 8, 2023

June 8, 2023

FILM REVIEWSANCTUARYRated R96 MinutesReleased May 19th In my humble estimation, this is one of the best movies of the year....

Film Review: The Little Mermaid

June 2, 2023

June 2, 2023

FILM REVIEWTHE LITTLE MERMAIDRated PG135 MinutesReleased May 26th With today’s technological developments, a live-action The Little Mermaid is not only...

A Riveting Revival of the Pulitzer Prize-Winning “A Soldier’s Play” Now Playing At The Ahmanson Theatre

May 31, 2023

May 31, 2023

On Stage With… Murder mysteries, whether cinematic or theatrical, are one of the most popular subjects. The list is quite...

Film Review: Chevalier

May 12, 2023

May 12, 2023

By Kathryn Boole  RATED PG-13107 MinutesReleased April 21, 2023 Chevalier is based on the true story of a historical figure...

Ballet at the Broad Stage Memorial Weekend – Meet the Talent!

May 10, 2023

May 10, 2023

Westside Ballet of Santa Monica returns to the Broad Stage with special guest artists kicking off Friday May 26th with...

Elizabeth McGovern Lights Up The Stage in “Ava – The Secret Conversations”

April 26, 2023

April 26, 2023

Play About Legendary Screen Star Runs Until May 14 At The Geffen Playhouse By Beverly Cohn Ava Gardner, born Ava...

Unconventional Art Festival “The Other Art Fair” Returns to Santa Monica This Weekend

March 31, 2023

March 31, 2023

140 independent artists, immersive installations, performances, DJs, and a fully stocked bar await visitors at Barker Hangar The Other Art...

Samohi Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” Takes the Stage in Santa Monica

March 1, 2023

March 1, 2023

Shows will take place at Barnum Hall on March 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. and March 5 at 3...

Film Review: “Marlow”

February 23, 2023

February 23, 2023

FILM REVIEW“MARLOWE”Rated R109 MinutesReleased February 15th “Marlowe” is a beautifully shot period piece that takes place in the late 1930’s....

Film Review: All Quite on the Western Front

February 22, 2023

February 22, 2023

I have never been a soldier at war, although I have close friends and relatives who have been. Universally they...

SMC Emeritus Concert Band to Hold Free Concert This Weekend at the Broad Stage

February 22, 2023

February 22, 2023

Concert February 26 will feature musical selections with an outdoor theme Santa Monica College’s Emeritus Concert Band, under the baton...