Book Description

Now, for the first time in paperback, here is the remarkable story of Sandra Day O’Connor’s family and early life, her journey to adulthood in the American Southwest that helped make her the woman she is today—the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and one of the most powerful women in America. In this illuminating and unusual book, Sandra Day O’Connor tells, with her brother, Alan, the story of the Day family, and of growing up on the harsh yet beautiful land of the Lazy B ranch in Arizona.

Laced throughout these stories about three generations of the Day family, and everyday life on the Lazy B, are the lessons Sandra and Alan learned about the world, self-reliance, and survival, and how the land, people, and values of the Lazy B shaped them. This fascinating glimpse of life in the Southwest in the last century recounts an important time in American history, and provides an enduring portrait of an independent young woman on the brink of becoming one of the most prominent figures in America. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Beatifully captures a bygone era of the American Southwest
I loved reading this beautiful, gritty account of the remote Arizona cattle ranch where O'Connor and her brother grew up. The book is a portrait of the Lazy B ranch and the family and cowboys who created and sustained it for over a century. O'Connor's account is unromantized and yet touching, and it succeeds in vividly revealing a bygone way of life from the old West.

We see the the daily rhythms and activities of ranch life, the ongoing struggles of the Day family to keep the ranch afloat, and portraits of the colorful, rugged cowboys who worked at the Lazy B for most of their lives. And we hear the perspectives and fond recollections of the young girl (O'Connor) and her brother who grew up there.

If you are drawn to the West, you'll enjoy this book as much as I did.

A Fascinating Memoir
Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her brother, H. Alan Day, tell the story of growing up in the harsh yet beautiful land of the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona. The book is organized as a series of vignettes ranging from character sketches of the cowboys who spent their lives on the ranch to rain to the BLM.

I loved this book. I first became aware of it during a trip to southern Arizona. The authors describe a way of life -- on an isolated cattle ranch -- that is almost extinct. I knew that water was important in such a land, but I didn't know that the majority of the time of the owners and employees of the ranch was spent in maintaining the wells, windmills and pumps that provided that water.

I also enjoyed comparing the book to Jimmy Carter's An Hour Before Daybreak, his memoir of his childhood in rural south Georgia during a similar time period.

Semi-BORING
This book seemed politically written. The "right" word took center-stage over the substance.

Only the B was Lazy
Growing up in a city, I always wondered during car trips through ranchland how the people there lived. Was it a hard life? Lonely? Were they like us in the city?

I knew from movies and TV that calves in pastures were grown into large steers through a gradual process of fistfighting and gunslinging, with the cowboys taking frequent breaks to drink whiskey and play poker. But that was only part of the story. What role did the women and children play? Why the windmills? Who provided basic services?

All these questions and more have now been answered by a Supreme Court Justice, of all things. Lazy B is Sandra Day O'Connor's memoir of her girlhood on a ranch in the desert Southwest. The simple unaffected style of her writing is just right to convey the power of the story: a family living on a desolate ranch for 113 years--a happy family, a resourceful and persistent family.

The Day ranch had already been operating for 50 years when Sandra was born in 1930, and was still going strong when she was appointed to the high court 51 years later. The Days didn't have hot running water until 1937, but when they did it was from a solar heater designed by Sandra's father--40 years ahead of the solar energy craze of the 1970s.

That sort of self reliance and innovation is one of the main themes of the book: when they needed more water they built windmills to bring it up out of the ground. When the windmills broke, they fixed them. Before the windmills and solar heater, the limited hot water for bathing was used in sequence: first Sandra's mother, then her father, then the children, then the ranch hands, if they had any interest in the water that remained. Not a cushy life, but several of the cowboys liked it enough to stay at Lazy B for over 50 years.

The self-reliance in the area of first aid is even more striking: Sandra's father successfully mending the uterus of a cow with a wine bottle and some stitches; one of the cowhands giving himself a root canal with red hot baling wire, or taping his broken finger to a nail so he could keep working.

And while all of them--Mom,Dad,kids,cowhands--did whatever they had to do to keep working, O'Connor's memories are overwhelmingly happy ones of card games and wild animal pets and riding through the desert and, more than anything else, conversations. One gets the impression that no one ever had a better childhood.

O'Connor may or may not be a great justice--I don't know much about the law--but it seems to me that she was a part of something great long before she ever got a law degree. A happy family and a solvent ranch are two things which are hard to maintain for more than a dozen years. The Days did it for a dozen plus a year and a century. Looking at the picture on page 257, I see the very bedrock of the country.

A Facinating Portrail of a Time Gone...By a Facinating Woman
Sandra Day O'Connor is simply one of the most impressive women to have lived in the 20th Century. I've only very recently reached this opinion, primarily based on listening to her read 'Lazy B'. Her childhood was remarkable, and it is indeed a testament to her character. Her voice is distinct and understated. Yet, one can tell that she is at once humble and proud. I highly recommend listening to her reading of the book, and I believe that you will come away with a strong impression of this distinguished lady. ... Read more

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Spend some time with Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her granddaughter as they explore Washington D.C. ... Read more

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A Great Book for Girls
Even in this day and age, young girls need to know that any door can be opened with a bit of pushing. This book not only brings to life a great role model, it shows that she is a real person. Ms. McElroy's simple, spare prose never condescends, but clearly sketches both the professional and family persona of her subject. It is a book that will be treasured by the owner and her (or even his) parents. If this is the beginning of a series, I look forward to the next one -- the author has found a valuable place on our bookshelves and in our hearts. ... Read more

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This book was really interesting and it taught me so much.
My favorite part ot the book was when it talked about her life and what it was like to live on a farm without electrisity,plumbing and without a lot more. I would like to recconend this book to any body who likes books that are extremely descriptive. I really enjoyed this book and I hope that you do to. ... Read more

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Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
This is a heartwarming story. This book is about Sandra Day O'Connor in the early years, late years and the politic years. This story may tell you somethings you never new about Justice O'Connor it told me somethings I never new. Read lots about Justice O'Connor in this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Michigan Law Review, published by Michigan Law Review Association on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 7390 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Lazy B; The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox; & Some Memories of a Long Life: 1854-1911.
Author: Laura Krugman Ray
Publication: Michigan Law Review (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2003
Publisher: Michigan Law Review Association
Volume: 101Issue: 6Page: 2103(15)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document, covering the life and work of Sandra Day O'Connor, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 1852 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description

As the leading voice of conservative pragmatism on the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has surprised both liberals and conservatives by crafting new approaches to several areas of American constitutional law. Much of the prior work examining Justice O'Connor's Supreme Court record has tried in vain to demonstrate that she stakes out legal positions based on her gender. In this comprehensive and systematic study, Robert W. Van Sickel explores the full corpus of O'Connor's opinions, as well as her various speeches, articles, and work on the Arizona Court of Appeals. He identifies a set of flexible yet consistent values that pervade her decisions during the past fifteen years. ... Read more