The Life
August 1, 2008 2:49 PM
Off the Clock: Keeping the Peace
Posted by Rachel Breitman
Seasoned Prosecutor: Robert Morgenthau
On the Clock: Manhattan district attorney
Off the Clock: tai chi student
Secret to Longevity: "My doctors say I should do just about anything but fall down."
After 33 years prosecuting New York's hardened criminals, anyone would appreciate a little peace and quiet. Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau gets his dose every Thursday from 8 to 9 in the morning, when he practices tai chi with an instructor in his Madison Avenue apartment.
"As you get slightly older, you have to do more to stay even," deadpans the 89-year-old (his birthday was Thursday). "It takes a lot of concentration," he adds, "and you can't listen to music or go off into a dreamworld while you do it."
His wife, Lucinda Franks, a journalist, pays little mind while the city's longest-tenured district attorney and its oldest elected official performs the slow, controlled deep-knee bends and methodical arm movements in his bare feet on the living room carpet. "She stays out of the picture," he says, "because I am focusing on my balance and concentration."
It was pursuit of better balance that first attracted Morgenthau to the Chinese martial art. He had watched people in the Chinatown parks outside of his office practicing tai chi. Then, after a bicycle accident four years ago left him with five cracked ribs, the prosecutor decided it was time for slower, safer, indoor activities.
Morgenthau's birthday started off with the weekly workout. He later attended a meeting with the Police Athletic League, which he has served on since 1962, first as president and then chairman. And there was some time spent on his office's ongoing construction cases over New York's recent spate of crane collapses.
"These are complicated cases that take a lot of patience," says Morgenthau, a native New Yorker. "I think the tai chi helps."
The peace of mind cultivated by this moving meditation is sure to help the D.A. next year, when at age 90, as he now says, he plans to run for a tenth term.
Photo by Rob Bennett
Make a commentComments (0)
Save & Share: Facebook |
Del.ic.ious |
| Email |
Reprints & Permissions
From the Law.com Newswire
 |
Sign up to receive Legal Blog Watch by email |
 View a Sample |
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments
Report offensive comments to The Am Law Daily.