I started practicing law, fresh out of N.Y.U. Law School, in 1974. I worked representing indigent criminal defendants for the next 33 years, both at the trial and the appellate level. I enjoyed that work very much–I have always been a fan of the underdog, and little is more underdog that someone arrested and accused of a serious crime who has no money to hire a lawyer. I liked the preparation, the strategy, the cross-examination, the argument.
And, while I was working as a lawyer, I was also indulging my interest in collecting. I started early; as a boy I collected post cards, match books, and baseball cards. In 1980, I graduated up to stereoscopic views. In the 1860s and thereafter, these photographs, looked at through a viewer, allowed people to tour the world in 3D. I concentrated on views of New York City. And a few of Paris, some other places, and the Civil War. As I did so, I began to notice views of some place called Green-Wood Cemetery.
Click here to see the rest of this post, with images, on the Green-Wood website.