October 07, 2005
Queens, NY – Taking time to venture beyond the precise world of
jurisprudence, faculty and students of St. John’s University’s
School of Law gathered in Manhattan on Thursday, October 6, for a
reception congratulating one of the school’s best-known professors
on the publication of his latest books – of poetry.
The School of Law held the book reception at the MetLife
Building’s Sky Club to honor Lawrence
Joseph, the Reverend Joseph T. Tinnelly, C.M., Professor of Law
at St. John’s. Farrar Straus and Giroux has published his new book,
Into It, along with a compilation of previously released
poetry,
Codes, Precepts, Biases and Taboos.
Though Professor Joseph is a widely recognized authority on
torts and employment law, the books address neither of those
subjects. Instead, they are volumes of poetry the New York Times
has likened to works by Wallace Stevens and Edgar Lee Masters.
Mary C.
Daly, Dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics
of the School of Law hosted the reception. Gene Orza ’73, Associate
General Counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association,
also offered remarks.
“We are all proud of Professor Joseph and his success,” said
Dean Daly. “And we are grateful for the recognition he is providing
our School.” Smiling, Dean Daly added, “He is as fine an educator
as he is a poet.”
Professor Joseph, who joined the law school faculty in 1987,
read four poems from his new book and two poems from his
re-released collection. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1948,
Professor Joseph is the grandson of Lebanese and Syrian Catholic
immigrants. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English in 1970 from
the University of Michigan, where he was admitted to Phi Beta
Kappa. Professor Joseph went on to Cambridge University, where he
earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
Professor Joseph returned to the University of Michigan, where
he earned his law degree in 1975. Beginning as a law clerk in the
Michigan Supreme Court, Professor Joseph built a distinguished
career at the New York law firm of Sheaman & Sterling.
We invite you to relive the excitement of Professor Joseph’s
book reception through our
Photo Gallery, and by reading the title poem from Into
It, 'In
It, Into It, Inside It, Down It'.