DOUBLE LIFE The Shattering Affair Between Chief Judge Sol Wachtler and Socialite Joy Silverman.

Hardcover. 1st edition. In November 1992, Sol Wachtler, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, was surrounded by FBI agents, handcuffed, and charged with extortion. Wachtler had been harassing the former lover who had spurned him - Joy Silverman, a beautiful socialite and a member of the same powerful family whose fortune and influence had given them both considerable, if different, advantages. The 62yr. old married judge, a father of 4, had led an apparently unblemished life until he vented his rage at Joy in a torrent of obscene letters and phone calls. Who was this man, a judge appointed by Governor Cuomo, hailed as the "great white Jewish hope" and touted as a possible Republican candidate for president? Who was this voluptuous Park Avenue socialite, a favoured guest at the Bush White House. From 100s of interviews and exclusive sources, the author constructs a fascinating saga of wealthy and politically connected family, and an absorbing portrait of a man driven to his downfall by sexual obsession. Illus. + Source Notes. 286pp. 8vo. h/back. Nr. F. in Vg+ dw.