Brain: Jane Kirtley

In the Twin Cities, University provost Tom Sullivan and Dr. Malcolm Blumenthal immediately come to mind. Outside of the Twin Cities, oh, there are hundreds of people I know who are smarter than I am—many of them lawyers, like Lee Levine (Washington, D.C.) and Floyd Abrams (NYC). Former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. Professor Geoffrey Stone at the University of Chicago. And the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, a brilliant man, disarmingly charming, with an Irish wit and warmth and a laser-sharp brain. He’s my hero.

Thomas Jefferson. A true Renaissance man and visionary. James Madison too. Without the two of them, we wouldn’t have a First Amendment.

Eve Curie’s biography of her mother, Madame Curie; Franz Werfel’s novel, The Song of Bernadette; Stefan Zweig’s biography, Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman; L. M. Montgomery’s novel, Anne of Green Gables.

Get off your duff and get to work.

Not really. I’m pretty much of a loner—maybe too much of one.

Obama, because presidents will come and go, but the people they appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court could change the face of American law.

Failing to study and master higher mathematics and a modern foreign language. (I’m a mathematical moron. I studied Latin, and I’m very glad I did, but I wish I’d learned to speak a modern language too.)

I watch classic films from the 1930s and 1940s. Read biographies and books about history, particularly British history. Travel, particularly to Scotland and to London.

Absolutely! I am losing brain cells every day and can use all the help I can get.

This might be considered an elitist answer, but if I can pick only one, I’d say book smart. I’m constantly looking up the things I don’t know, so I’m not sure I’m there yet.

Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan).

The dumbing down of public discourse. If we don’t start to value those who are well educated and use critical thinking instead of their feelings to define and solve problems, we will perish. Or even if we don’t, life will be unbearable.

It can, as long as one remains open to new ideas and experiences and constantly questions one’s beliefs and prejudices.

We have a responsibility to challenge those who are intellectually lazy, who speak and think in sound bites, and who never question their own judgment.