This is the story of a Southern White boy growing up in segregated Mobile and his struggle to escape. In Part One the boy, a newly minted ACLU lawyer in Memphis, encounters racism while seeking to obtain justice for a Black youth beaten by police after Dr. King's assassination in 1968. When threats against his family become oppressive, he flees to the North hoping to carry on his quest for justice. Part Two chronicles his attempts in Massachusetts to address issues of the disenfranchised, poor, people of color, gays, and the mentally challenged. In doing so, he confronts a North that when stripped of liberal patina is as steeped in racism as the South. This memoir is about that boy's journey away from the society in which he grew up and his attempt to atone for guilt by leaving Memphis before his young Black client obtains justice.

Written with humour and insight, this informal memoir is a delightful celebration of the passions that have driven Simon Brown's life. Whether recalling incidents from his early years as a barrister (courageously breaking away from the family business) or as Treasury Devil, or during the later stages of his legal career (ending as a Justice of the Supreme Court) - or whether talking about his family, telling us his golfing tales, or describing his enjoyment of the Garrick and his many travels around the world - he exudes a zest and delight in what he does and an affection for those he works with and meets that is a deeply endearing characteristic. Friendship is a constant theme, the pleasure he takes in other people. It is this extraordinary energy and enthusiasm for life that defines Simon Brown and lends this memoir its huge attraction.