Cocktails & Conversation: The Trial of the Chicago 7

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” earned five Golden Globe nominations last week and is assumed to be an Oscar contender as well, but the story the film tells is based on an actual trial that held the country in thrall for months in 1970. Mark Levine and Danny Greenberg were two young attorneys at the time who came up with the idea to publish the trial transcripts, and their “instant book” (Bantam had it on the shelves by March 7, 1970) formed the basis for Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant script. “The book reads like a script,” Levine says. “It was clearly the most cinematic trial that ever took place,” added Greenberg.

Levine and Greenberg were guests at Thursday night’s Cocktails & Conversation event, a popular series of virtual author talks sponsored by the New Rochelle Public Library Foundation. Speaking via Zoom to a sell-out crowd, the duo chatted candidly with moderator Amy Bass, a noted author and historian who teaches at Manhattanville College, sharing the story behind the book and how they turned 22,000 pages of transcripts into a compelling window on the politics of the 60s.

“This was in the days before Fed Ex and fax,” recalled Levine, so they had to convince the court reporter to send them her transcripts overnight via plane: “She dropped them off at Delta at O’Hare and Danny met the plane at LaGuardia.”

What followed was a marathon, with 20 to 30 friends and family members reading through the transcripts 24 hours a day. “We told the readers ‘we have to narrow it down.’ We wanted to show the contrasts, the soundbites, the memorable parts and the substance, the clash of cultures, because that’s what it was,” said Levine.

Greenberg noted the parallels to today’s culture wars, with “a justice department controlled by a President abusing his power to prosecute people, government overreach… “We’re hoping that Sorkin’s movie will get people to dig into the substance of what happened in the 60s.”

Levine praised NRPL Foundation Vice President as “the godmother or midwife of the book.” A young assistant at Bantam Books, she provided valuable tips on preparing the manuscript and eventually offered to show it to her own boss. And 50 years later America is still talking about it.

The next Cocktails & Conversation event is scheduled for Thursday, March 18th when the NRPL Foundation will bring together authors Sara DiVello ("Where in the OM Am I?") and Catherine Pearlman ("The Family Coach") for an evening focusing on self-care as we pass into the second year of the global pandemic. The Cocktails & Conversation events will take place via Zoom at 8 pm; admission is free but a $20 donation is suggested – and appreciated. Participants sign up in advance to receive the Zoom link and the recipe for a signature cocktail to make -- and enjoy -- at home. To register go to www.nrplfoundation.org.

The books to be discussed are available for sale by special arrangement from Bronx River Books, a local independent bookstore. (37 Spencer Place, Scarsdale, 914-420-6396 or order on line at www.bronxriverbooks.com).