Handwritten letters reveal Ruth Bader Ginsburg's impact on Iowans

HERE IN IOWA. I WISH BADER GINSBURG DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR. THIS IS THE MOMENT RUTH BADER GINSBURG WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE COUNTRY, BUT FOR DES MOINES ATTORNEY ROXANNE CONLON THEIR RELATIONSHIP SPANS FROM TWO DECADES BEFORE I DECIDED TO WRITE AN ARTICLE. ON THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT AND SHE WAS MY READER FOR TWO YEARS IN THE 1970S. COLLINS WORK WAS CHECK CONTINUOUSLY BY GINSBURG A COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AT THE TIME. I WOULD TALK TO HER ON THE PHONE. I WOULD MAIL HER STUFF AND GETTYSBURG WILL BECOME ONE OF COLIN’S BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS. I GOT TO KNOW HOW FUNNY SHE WAS HOW BRILLIANT SHE WAS AND HOW FAR INTEREST SPREAD OUTSIDE OF LAW. LIKE HER LOVE FOR THE OPERA A FACT DES MOINES METRO OPERA IS MIKE ILLEGAL LEARNED IN 2015 IN PARTICULAR. SHE MENTIONED THAT ONE OF OUR FAVORITE OPERAS WAS BILLY BUDD. SO WHEN DID THE MOINES METROPOPE THIS PERFORMANCE OF BILLY BUDD WROTE HER A LETTER AND LET HER KNOW THAT IT WAS HAPPENING NOT EXPECTING A RESPONSE AT ALL, BUT EAGLE DID GET A RESPONSE THIS LETTER SIGNED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. A WEEK OR SO LATER. SHE COULDN’T MAKE IT FOR THE OPENING BUT PROMISED TO LET HIM KNOW IF OTHER DAYS WORKED. IT WAS THE FIRST OF NINE LETTERS SOME EVEN HANDWRITTEN BETWEEN THE TWO OVER FOUR YEARS IF I SENT HER A PROGRAM OR IF I SENT HER A DVD I COULD ALWAYS COUNT ON THE FACT THAT SHE WOULD WRITE SOMETHING BACK AND WRITE BACK. SHE ALWAYS DID UNTIL THE VERY END RUTH BADER GINSBURG SPINAL LEATHER TO EAGLE SIGNED, AUGUST 27TH 2020. CLOSE WITH WELL WISHES FOR THE OPERA AND ALL OF ITS SUPPORTERS. IT ALWAYS FELT SPECIAL. IT FEELS EVEN MORE SPECIAL AND AND TOUCHING NOW REPORTING IN DES MOINES K

Ruth Bader Ginsburg touched the lives of many across the country, including some people in central Iowa.Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin detailed her mentorship from Ruth Bader Ginsburg by sharing letters the pair sent back and forth.“I decided to write an article on the Equal Rights Amendment and she was my reader,” Conlin said.For two years in the 1970s, Conlin's work was checked continuously by Ginsburg, who worked as a professor at Columbia University."I would talk to her on the phone,” she said. “I would mail her stuff."Conlin said Ginsburg became one of her biggest inspirations. "I got to know how funny she was, how brilliant she was,” she said.Ginsburg had a love for the opera, as Des Moines Metro Opera’s Michael Egle learned in 2015.According to Egle, Ginsburg loved the opera “Billy Budd” and he wrote to Ginsburg about the Des Moines Metro Opera Company’s performance of the opera before it opened in 2015.Egel received a letter from Ginsburg a week or so later, saying she could not make the company’s opening performance but would let him know if other days worked.It was the first of nine letters, some even handwritten, between the pair over four years. "If I sent her a program or if I sent her a DVD, I could always count on the fact that she would write something back." Ginsburg's final letter to Egel, signed Aug. 27, 2020, closed with well-wishes for the opera and all its supporters. "It always felt special,” Egle said. “It feels even more special and touching now."

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Ruth Bader Ginsburg touched the lives of many across the country, including some people in central Iowa.

Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin detailed her mentorship from Ruth Bader Ginsburg by sharing letters the pair sent back and forth.

“I decided to write an article on the Equal Rights Amendment and she was my reader,” Conlin said.

For two years in the 1970s, Conlin's work was checked continuously by Ginsburg, who worked as a professor at Columbia University.

"I would talk to her on the phone,” she said. “I would mail her stuff."

Conlin said Ginsburg became one of her biggest inspirations.

"I got to know how funny she was, how brilliant she was,” she said.

Ginsburg had a love for the opera, as Des Moines Metro Opera’s Michael Egle learned in 2015.

According to Egle, Ginsburg loved the opera “Billy Budd” and he wrote to Ginsburg about the Des Moines Metro Opera Company’s performance of the opera before it opened in 2015.

Egel received a letter from Ginsburg a week or so later, saying she could not make the company’s opening performance but would let him know if other days worked.

It was the first of nine letters, some even handwritten, between the pair over four years.

"If I sent her a program or if I sent her a DVD, I could always count on the fact that she would write something back."

Ginsburg's final letter to Egel, signed Aug. 27, 2020, closed with well-wishes for the opera and all its supporters.

"It always felt special,” Egle said. “It feels even more special and touching now."

Handwritten letters reveal Ruth Bader Ginsburg's impact on Iowans

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