These were emotionally and physically exhausting trials where the fate of a family was in his hands, one case after another for nearly two decades. Was it as hard on him as it was on the families? Of course not. Was it a test of his perseverance when others might (and some other lawyers often had) withered? It was.

(And I wasn't suggesting Dickerson buy the book. I was suggesting, perhaps inartfully, that anyone who knows his life work would know that our personal obstacles were not the only "worsts" John has faced with strength.)