by Linda Wolfe
p. 74 SW “cast an enormous shadow”: Interview with Alison Wachtler, May 15, 1993.
p. 75 Joan gives up political work, decides to study social work: Interview with Joan Wachtler, July 16, 1993.
pp. 75–76 “the abortion required an operation” to “he was busy with his litigation with Bibbs”: Interview with Dick Simons, Mar. 21, 1993.
p. 76 David Paul: “More Crimes of the ’80s,” Newsweek, Dec. 6, 1993. Myra MacPherson, “David Paul and his CenTrust S&L,” Washington Post, Mar. 19, 1990. Peter Becker, “David Paul Had a Great Fall,” M, Inc., Mar. 1991. Interview with Larry Weisman, May 23, 1993. Note: Paul was convicted in late 1993 of more than sixty counts of fraud.
p. 77 Paul’s deposition: Interview with Dick Simons, Mar. 21, 1993.
p. 77 JS marries David Paul in a Las Vegas wedding parlor: “Joy’s Search for Happiness,” Kates, Daily News, Nov. 15, 1992. The description of the parlor is drawn from “Marrying Absurd,” in Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Simon & Schuster, Touchstone ed., 1979.
p. 78 JS’s call to Simons from Las Vegas: Interview with Dick Simons, Mar. 21, 1993.
CHAPTER 5
p. 79 “Whatever passion had once existed between them had begun to evaporate”: Letter, Simring, Sent. Memo. of U.S.
p. 79 “sex was apparently not a high priority” to “passion for worldly success”: Interview with a longtime friend of SW’s, Mar. 29, 1993.
p. 80 SW’s most important early decisions on court of appeals, and SW’s behavior toward friends and lawyers: Interview with Mike Traynor, June 12, 1993.
pp. 81–82 “He especially liked tricking Jacob Fuchsberg” to “never gave adultery a thought”: Interview with a member of SW’s staff, June 8, 1993.
p. 82 “‘If I’d lived with him two days, I’d never have married him’”: Interview with an intimate of JS’s, Oct. 28, 1993.
p. 82 “within two months of the wedding ceremony, they got an annulment in the Dominican Republic”: Daily News, Nov. 15, 1992, and interview with Helen Cox, Sept. 4, 1993.
p. 83 “Six months later, Joy began to be seen with a friend of Paul’s”: Daily News, Nov. 15, 1992.
p. 83 Jeffrey Silverman’s early career: Ibid.
p. 83 “haggle over the terms of a divorce”: Ibid.
p. 83 Joan Wachtler goes back to school: Letter from Joan Wachtler to Judge Anne Thompson, n.d., and interview with Joan Wachtler, July 16, 1993.
p. 83 Joan’s internship: “Joan Wachtler to Head Women for Purcell,” Great Neck News, 1981.
pp. 83–84 Dick Simons wins lawsuit: Interviews with Dick Simons, Mar. 21 and June 3, 1993.
pp. 84–85 James Wolosoff sues Bibbs: Court documents filed in the case of James K. Wolosoff v. Alvin B. Wolosoff, et al., dated Aug. 20, 1975, and Apr. 12 and 21, 1976.
pp. 85–86 Allen H. Weiss tries to settle the suit: Interviews with Allen H. Weiss, Feb. 9 and Mar. 4, 1993.
pp. 86–87 Bibbs “rued the day that Jimmy had ever been conceived”: Probate Proceeding, Will of Alvin B. Wolosoff, Nov. 8, 1985.
p. 87 Bibbs cuts Jimmy out of his will: Interviews with Allen H. Weiss, Feb. 9 and Mar. 4, 1993.
pp. 87–88 SW considers running for governor in 1978 to “He had so many IOUs out around the state”: “Judicious Reluctance,” New York Times, Apr. 10, 1977.
p. 88 “He has to be fed constantly with applause and admiration”: Interview with a member of SW’s staff, June 8, 1993.
p. 88 “‘the computer baby’”: Interview with an intimate of JS’s, Oct. 28, 1993.
p. 89 “he and Joy talked for a while” to “let her know, in no uncertain terms, that she wasn’t his type”: Interview with an acquaintance of JS’s, Aug. 1, 1993.
p. 89 “‘There’s always Macbeth’”: “Judge Tries Anew to Spell Out Initial Protest,” New York Times, Mar. 31, 1979.
p. 90 “‘They know you, and they still want you’”: Interview with a longtime friend of SW’s, Mar. 29, 1993.
p. 90 Bontscha Schvaig: Interview with Mike Traynor, June 12, 1993.
p. 90 “threaten to report him to the IRS”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 91 “‘too bad we can’t kill Bibbs’”: Interview with a friend of JS’s, July 29, 1993.
p. 91 “Joy put a memorial announcement in the Times:” Deaths column, New York Times, Oct. 13, 1980.
p. 91 “every year afterward on the anniversary of her death”: Interview with Gail Rothstein, Feb. 3, 1993.
p. 91 “played poker together” to “good candidate”: Mario Cuomo, The Diaries of Mario M. Cuomo, Random House, 1984, pp. 65–66.
pp. 91–92 SW’s judicial opinions: Interview with Mike Traynor, June 12, 1993.
p. 92 “‘It grows in slums’”: Speech given by SW before the Albany Bar Association in Dec. 1980.
p. 92 “‘The greatest responsibility for our national welfare’”: Speech given by SW before the Judicial Section of the New York State Bar Association, Jan. 24, 1981.
p. 93 “They had stopped altogether”: Letter, Simring, Sent. Memo. of U.S.
p. 93 “‘made a play for me’”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 93 “Albany waitress named Dorothy”: Interview with an intimate of JS’s, Oct. 28, 1993.
p. 94 Fuchsberg and the Century Club: Interview with a member of SW’s staff, June 8, 1993.
p. 94 SW didn’t want the stress and strain of running: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 94 “The old Nassau power broker had been indicted”: “Margiotta and Ex-Judge Indicted in Alleged L.I. Insurance Fraud,” New York Times, Nov. 25, 1980. Margiotta was eventually convicted and served one year of a two-year jail term.
p. 94 “‘Why does my high-minded friend’”: Interview with a longtime friend of SW’s, Mar. 29, 1993.
p. 94 “no intention of running”: “Four Judges Take the Stand as Witnesses for Margiotta,” New York Times, Apr. 17, 1981.
p. 94 “the gossip in Albany”: Interview with a New York politician, Feb. 19, 1993.
pp. 95–96 Honey Wolosoff: Interview with Lauren Wachtler, Apr. 9, 1993.
CHAPTER 6
p. 97 Bibbs’s will: The Last Will and Testament of Alvin B. Wolosoff, July 14, 1982.
p. 97 “‘Did he love my mother?’” Interview with Helen Cox, Sept. 4, 1993.
p. 98 Bibbs lent Jeffrey money for stocks: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 98 Ply-Gem becomes a major company: “Strong Finish in ’85,” Barron’s Investment News & Views, Sept. 9, 1985. “A Do-It-Yourself Supplier That’s Built a Following,” Business Week, July 11, 1988. “Improving Homes, Improving Minds,” Management Review, Dec. 1988.
p. 98 “Sol, inviting Van to his chambers” to “‘all I want’”: S. Wachtler, Prob. Proc., Wolosoff.
p. 98 ‘“ If you give her a million dollars today’”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 99 Bibbs’s death: Interview with Dick Simons, Mar. 22, 1993.
p. 99 Bibbs’s funeral and Sol’s subsequent conversation with Joy: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 99 “small talk … about her astrologist”: Interview with Alison Wachtler, May 15, 1993.
p. 100 Serious consideration given to only SW and Milton Mollen (recently the head of the Mollen Commission, investigating police corruption in NYC): “The Making of a Chief Judge,” New York Times, Jan. 6, 1985, and interview with a former adviser to Governor Cuomo, Feb. 25, 1993.
p. 100 “choosing Sol would make Cuomo look good”: Interview cited in preceding note.
p. 100 Governor Cuomo’s explanation of why he selected SW as chief judge: Radio interview on the show “Capitol Connection,” Jan. 2, 1985.
pp. 100–01 Joy’s activities: Interviews with Phil Friedman, Aug. 19, 1993, and a Nightingale-Bamford mother, Aug. 20, 1993. “Envoys Without Experience,” Washington Post, July 18, 1989.
p. 100 “‘There are a lot of things I want that I don’t have’”: Interview with Kathryn O. Greenberg, Aug. 2, 1993.
pp.
101–02 Joy’s reluctance to have Honey be cotrustee of her trust: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 102 “‘I think Jeffrey’s fooling around’”: Interview with Kathryn O. Greenburg, Aug. 2, 1993.
p. 103 “dreamed up a way to make Joy even happier”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 103 Joy asks for assistance and advice: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 103 “her darling little bichon frise”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993. Interestingly, at one point during the interview, when SW mentioned the bichon frise, Joan Wachtler said wryly, “We always had dogs. But we had a beagle and a St. Bernard.”
p. 104 SW makes suggestions to Joy about her future: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
pp. 104–05 “Weiss thought they had a chance” to “any litigation in the state could potentially end up there”: Interviews with Allen H. Weiss, Feb. 9 and Mar. 4, 1993.
p. 105 SW volunteered that he’d not only checked the law but asked his colleagues on the court of appeals whether they thought he ought to disqualify himself: Newsday, which investigated this assertion after SW’s arrest, reported that “five of six colleagues” said that “he had never mentioned it to them.” Cited by Eric Pooley in “Crazy for You,” New York Magazine, Dec. 14, 1992.
p. 106 “Wachtler was using the politically powerful firm Shea and Gould” to “they would be based on monomania”: Interviews with Allen H. Weiss, Feb. 9 and Mar. 4, 1993. S. Wachtler, Prob. Proc., Wolosoff.
p. 107 “‘Evan! Hey, Evan!’” to “Made him stop running”: Interview with Dick Simons, Mar. 21, 1993.
pp. 107–08 “received a call from Judge Radigan” to “not as completely as he had planned”: Interviews with Allen H. Weiss, Feb. 9 and Mar. 4, 1993.
p. 108 Joy and Sol discuss her getting a job with the mayor: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 108 SW’s house in Albany: Interview with Alison Wachtler, May 15, 1993. Letter from Joan Wachtler to Judge Anne Thompson, n.d.
p. 108 “Gardening became his passion”: Interview with Phil Friedman, Aug. 19, 1993.
p. 109 Joy sends gift basket to SW: Interview with Joan Wachtler, July 16, 1993.
CHAPTER 7
pp. 113–15 SW speaks at a luncheon held by the Long Island Association to “He gave her his … credit card number”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 115 “It’s as if … Joy’s a little girl playing dress-up”: Interview with the wife of a close friend of George Bush, Mar. 16, 1993.
pp. 115–16 JS visits the court of appeals: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 116 “‘I never—never with one exception, [that] woman in upstate New York’”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993. It is possible that the woman in question was a waitress in Albany named Dorothy. The author was told during an interview with a person close to JS that while Jeanette was still alive, SW had had some sort of sexual or romantic relationship with an Albany waitress named Dorothy and that Elsie Wolosoff had passed the news along to Jeanette, who had gossiped about it with JS.
pp. 116–20 “‘I thought we were going to have dinner alone’” to “he let Joy and Paola check out of the Susse Chalet and move into his farmhouse”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993. Note that Dr. Simring, the psychiatrist who examined SW for the prosecution, dates the first kiss to Oct. 4, 1987, whereas the author dates it to early in 1987. This is because SW remembered firmly during the author’s interview with him that the first time he and JS touched was at his Long Island Association appearance during the blizzard, which occurred on Jan. 22, 1987, and said that Joy’s trip to Albany came “shortly afterward,” and their first night together “about two weeks later.” The author believes her date is more accurate than Dr. Simring’s because at the time SW was interviewed by Simring, he was, according to his own psychiatrist, confused about time and became more accurate as the months passed.
p. 120 “Joy introduced Sol to a whole new world of sexuality … that made intercourse seem dull and pedestrian”: Letter, Simring, Sent. Memo. of U.S.
p. 120 “A state commission on judicial conduct had recommended to Sol that the judge … be removed from the bench” to “Gelfand announced that he would appeal”: “Bronx Judge Vows He’ll Fight Panel’s Verdict for Removal,” Newsday, Mar. 27, 1987. “State Court Suspends Gelfand—With Pay,” Newsday, Apr. 28, 1987.
pp. 120–22 Gelfand’s meeting with SW: Interviews with Judge Bertram Gelfand, Sept. 22 and Nov. 14, 1993.
p. 122 “They saw each other once every other week” to “one weekend a month together”: Cindy Adams, “Dad Gets the Rap for the Way Joy ‘Destroys’ Men,” New York Post, Sept. 10, 1993.
p. 122 Joan’s resentment: Letter of Joan Wachtler to Judge Anne Thompson, n.d.
pp. 122–23 “She’s got some temper” to “‘There’s a lot of history there’”: Interview with a member of SW’s staff, June 8, 1993.
p. 123 “‘Go over to the Bush for President headquarters’” to “‘Bush supporter’”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
pp. 123–24 JS’s activities at campaign headquarters: Pooley, “Crazy for You,” New York Magazine, Dec. 14, 1992.
p. 124 “‘She’s a snake’”: A Bush campaign staffer quoted in “Joy’s Search for Happiness,” Daily News, Nov. 15, 1992.
p. 124 “‘She’s pushy … eye toward an appointment’”: Interview with the wife of one of Bush’s financial advisers, Mar. 8, 1993.
p. 124 “‘She sucked him up for one thousand dollars’”: Julie Wadler, as quoted in Pooley, “Crazy for You,” New York Magazine, Dec. 14, 1992.
p. 124 “‘It was a pleasure to meet you at lunch’” to “‘It’s always a delight to talk to someone who’s so well informed’”: These are prototypical letters. The quotations are based on those in actual letters shown to the author by SW on July 16, 1993.
pp. 124–25 “‘I read your interesting and inspiring closing statement’”: From a letter written to Angier Biddle Duke by SW and signed by JS. Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 125 The “You done good” letter: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 125 JS’s meeting with Lawrence Bathgate: Interviews with Lawrence Bathgate, Mar. 2 and 3, 1993.
p. 125 “‘How much do you love me?’”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 126 “training in such fields isn’t necessary. Nor is a license”: Note that the state of New York has held numerous hearings in an attempt to establish legislative licensing procedures for psychotherapists, but the effort has not proved successful.
p. 126 JS leaned on Eleanor Sloan: Interview with Phil Friedman, Aug. 19, 1993.
pp. 126–27 SW goes to see Sloan: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 127 “She had told him the sexual predilections of all her husbands”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
pp. 127–28 “She told him, too, about her relationship with her stepbrother” to “getting close to five million dollars for it”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 128 The LIU dinner: Interview with Joan Wachtler, July 16, 1993.
p. 129 SW addresses a group of businessmen in Albany: “‘The Wachtler-Cuomo Show’ Knocks ’Em Dead in Albany,” New York Law Journal, Mar. 28, 1988.
p. 129 JS holds fund-raiser in Southampton: Interview with one of the guests, Mar. 8, 1993.
p. 130 “‘It was intimate, that was the wonderful part of it’” and “‘It was the single most successful party’”: “In New Orleans, the Grand Old Parties,” Washington Post, Aug. 15, 1988.
p. 130 JS makes speech at the Harmonie Club: Interview with William Koeppel, Feb. 24, 1993.
pp. 130–31 SW suggests to JS that she try for an ambassadorship: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 131 “afraid that being identified as pro-choice would harm her chances … both financially and ideologically”: Interviews with Tania Melich, Feb. 18 and Dec. 10, 1993.
pp. 131–32 JS promotes SW for Supreme Court: Interview with William Koeppel, Feb. 24, 1993.
p. 133 Jeffrey Silverman visits Barbados: “Envoys Without Experience: Bush Favors GOP Donors as Ambassadors,” Washington Post, July 18, 1989.
pp. 133–34 JS in Albany: Interview with a member of SW’s staff, June 8, 1993.
pp. 134–36 “Was Joy in love with him?” to “the pinnacle of their love”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
CHAPTER 8
p. 137 “‘I love George Bush’”: Interview with a Nightingale-Bamford mother, Aug. 20, 1993.
p. 137 “a ‘major exhibit … wealth given freely to the GOP’”: “Envoys Without Experience: Bush Favors GOP Donors as Ambassadors,” Washington Post, July 18, 1989.
pp. 137–38 “‘I’m caught in a web in Washington’” to “deeply touched by her predicament”: Interview with Phil Friedman, Aug. 19, 1993.
pp. 139–40 “I’m lying here in a pool of blood” to “guilt and self-loathing”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 140 “blamed Sol for her defeat”: Interview with a friend of JS’s, July 29, 1993.
p. 141 “‘It’s absolutely untrue’”: Interview with Jeffrey Silverman, Mar. 24, 1994.
p. 141 “She said to Sheresky”: Interview with Norman Sheresky, Mar. 26, 1993.
p. 141 “Joy began to urge Sol to marry her”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
pp. 141–42 Bush’s Jan. 2, 1990 letter to JS: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.
p. 142 “‘The courts are not for raising revenue’”: “Judge Assails Cuomo,” Newsday, Feb. 22, 1990.
p. 142 “‘I differ with the chief judge on fees’” to “‘can’t do it this year’”: Gary Spencer, “Cuomo, Wachtler See Improved Dialogue,” New York Law Journal, Mar. 14, 1990.
p. 142 “The scuttlebutt in Albany”: Interview with Phil Friedman, Aug. 26, 1993.
p. 142 “‘There are differences’”: Gary Spencer, “Cuomo, Wachtler See Improved Dialogue,” New York Law Journal, Mar. 14, 1990.
p. 143 Joy “expected gems” to “gone to Morty to make his purchases”: Interview with SW, July 16, 1993.