Overview

To know the story of the life and times of Judge Gilbert Merritt is to understand modern U.S. politics of the mid to late 20th century—how it came to be, and how it worked—particularly in the American South. Judge Gilbert Merritt and his circle of young lawyers and journalists in Nashville were among the South’s earliest Kennedy Democrats in the late 1950s. Their brash political strivings, though not always victorious at the polls, affected the shape of many things, including the rise of modern Nashville. As a young legal scholar in his twenties, Merritt was one of the nation’s youngest U.S. Attorneys (appointed by President Johnson); candidate for Congress; opponent of the death penalty; President Carter’s nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and almost a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. This social biography is a graduate course in Southern political history, and how that history is much more than campaigns and elections. It depicts a much deeper weave of the power of friendship and loyalty, the influence of history upon individuals and generations, and of how communities of interest formed and evolved over time in our nation—and of how it is all connected.

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9781513141381

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“Keel Hunt delivers another fascinating book on Southern political history with the publication of A Sense of Justice: Judge Gilbert S. Merritt and His Times. It is a must-read for lawyers, judges and anyone with an interest in politics.” —Justice Sharon Lee, Tennessee Bar Review “A Sense of Justice: Judge Gilbert S. Merritt and His Times isn’t just a biography of Judge Merritt. It’s a chronicle of Nashville’s most influential movers and shakers through more than five decades. [ . . . ] But the book is more than a collection of accolades and acclamation. Hunt takes time to recount Merritt’s mettle in the courtroom and beyond, whether it was his opposition to the death penalty, defense of free speech, or support for civil rights and the integration of the Nashville Bar Association.” —G. Robert Frazier, Chapter 16 “. . . I started reading the Keel Hunt book, A Sense of Justice, and could not be diverted. [ . . . ] The book is about an independent court system; one that follows the Rule of Law; and a judicial system that acts as checks and balances on abuse of power by other branches. The biography is about Gil Merritt and his concept of equality. To quote Judge Merritt: ‘Again, that goes back to the idea of evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.’” —Judge Paul G. Summers (Ret.) “A beautiful and literate presentation of a complex and unique man.” —Jack May 

"Praise for The Family Business: ""Keel Hunt's history of the Ingrams unwinds the past to reveal the family, friends, and business associates who, together, influenced and impacted the book industry (and the arts). It’s not just for locals, however, but for anyone interested in how dedication, risk-taking, and innovation can lead to major, long-term change and great success."" —Southern Bookseller Review ""Exceptionally well written, impressively comprehensive, meticulously researched, The Family Business: How Ingram Transformed the World of Books is essential reading for authors, publishers, book publicists, book sellers, distributors and wholesalers, as well as anyone in the book business and the world of media—as well as the bibliophile and non-specialist general reader wanting to understand how this vastly influential publishing industry really works, as well as the ways in which today's electronic information technologies are transforming the world. . . . An essential, core addition to community, college and university library Writing/Publishing collections."" —Midwest Book Review ""The Family Business is must reading for any student of book publishing—regardless of your role in the industry ecosystem."" —Publishing Research Quarterly ""This long-overdue business biography tells the inside story of a great American family-owned business, one that has an impressive 50-year history by any standard."" —Independent Publisher ""Hunt, an advisor to the Ingram family since 1995, gives an inside look at the Ingram Content Group, one of the publishing industry's key players, in this comprehensive account. . . Anyone interested in learning about the modern history of book publishing would do well to check this out."" —Publishers Weekly ""There's one company responsible for bringing just about every book you've ever read into your life, and you may not even know it exists. In The Family Business, author and journalist Keel Hunt charts the history and contributions of Ingram Content Group, a little-known, family-owned business based in Tennessee that has shaped the publishing world for 50 years."" —BookPage ""The Family Business is a somewhat timeless story of the twists and turns in one business' life, and the lessons that can be learned from it."" —Clear Purpose ""Meticulously documented. . . It is a great story, a great education in the book business, and a book everyone in the business of books should own."" —Porchlight Books"

Author Information

Keel Hunt is the author of The Family Business as well as two books on Tennessee political history, and has been a columnist for the USA Today Tennessee network since 2013. In his early career, he was a journalist and Washington correspondent. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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