ilersons. OF INTEREST

:

ffiffim* S*er J€lwrc ffiffismreThe Stewarts of Garrett Park vie to become thenext literary dynasty, sort of

By Alan Dessoff

David and Matt Stewart onceconsidered writing a family history to-gether after taking a 2008 bicycle tourthrough the Eastern European homelandof David's grandparents.

"We each wrote a chapter-and thenI got cold feet and didn't finish it," says

David, 59. "I discovered I wasn't com-fortable writing about myself."

What he is comfortable writing aboutis American history-a subject he hasmined successfully in two critically ac-

claimed nonfiction books. Meanwhile,his 31-year-old son-oldest of threekids-has gone on to make history:

48 March/April 2011 | BethesdaMagazine.com

:: -f i" I iil * :.-'--

:,: :: ! : .lriF ;

releasing the first novel ever on Twitter,the somewhat misleadingly trtled The

French Revolution.Thalbook came out inprint last year.

Today David writes from a convertedbedroom in the family's 1880s Victorianh Garrett Park, while his son writes from a

marina-style condo in San Francisco, where

he moved after graduating from Richard\{ontgomery High School in Rockville andrrom his father's alma matetYale.

"It's terrific to have people in the familyn'ho see the world through different eyes,"

says Nancy Floreen, the three-term mem-ber of the Montgomery County Coun-ci1 who happens to be David's wife and\{att's mother.

A constitutional lawyer, David gave up a

partnership at the Washington, D.C., firmof Ropes & Gray to write The Summer of1787 (Simon & Schuster,2007). Praised byThe New York Times and on The Washing-

ton Posls 2007 best-seller list, it takes read-

ers into the sweltering Philadelphia roomrvhere delegates struggled for four monthsto produce the Constitution.

He followed that up with Impeached:

The Trial of President Andrew Johnson andthe Fight for Lincoln's Legacy (Simon &Schuster, 2009). His third book, AmericanEmperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to lffir-son's America"will come out in the fall.

Meanwhile, Matt gained attention world-wide by releasing The French RevolutionviaTwitter on Bastille Day,2009.Its title not-rvithstanding, the novel is a San Francisco-

based "family saga cast in a unique historicalstructure-plus jokesl' Matt says.

Published by Soft Skull Press last year,

the book was named by the San Francis-co Chronicle as one of the Best Books of2010 by Bay Area authors. Matt recentlycompleted his second nove7, Duct Tape,

about "a homeless man in search of hisimaginary self."

Even before turning to books, fatherand son were writers. David spent twoyears as a reporter for the Staten Island(N.Y.) Advance and 10 years writing a

monthly column on the Supreme Courtfor the American Ber Association Journal.Matt has written short stories that have

appeared in Instant City, McSweeney's andOpium Magazine, and he has blogged forThe Huffington Post.

David's first book arose from a case he

was arguing. Long interested in Americanhistory, he became convinced his opponentwas misstating what happened at the Con-stitutional Convention of 17 87 in Philadel-phia. "I decided to check it out myselt," he

says. During one weekend, he read all 500-

plus pages of James Madison's notes on theconvention debates.

"Once I started reading, I stopped wor-rying about my case," he says. "I wanted totell that story." He relinquished his part-nership at Ropes & Gray, becoming coun-sel to the firm instead, and wrote his firstbook over 18 months.

Matt's book, by contrast, began as ashort story. "I started writing the firstcharacter, the opening scenes> and I hada blast. I let my imagination fly," he says.

With a full-time day job as marketingdirector for the Alliance for Climate Ed-ucation, which teaches students nation-wide about climate science, he writes in a

home office before and after work and onweekends. His wife, Karla Zens, works incommercial real estate.

David and Matt say they have readeach other's books. Matt offers no com-ment on his father's writing, but Davidsays his son writes "with zest, skill,humor and insight." I

AIan Dessoff is a freelance writer who livei:s

in Bethesda. To comment on this story,

e - m ail comm ents@b ethes damagazine. co m.

ir

! :; ,i,, 'il."rX ll tr, li t:

:: ""]1 :t ':

.. .:

:l ll i:ii ,l :: i: ::

.l"i -:a r ! =

.:,: li 1 u,'1, ,'. ,.t ,t'"ii."Ii : :: ,i! l:!--,1i. :i - :,:.i

i: ir,rli:;: =-..,,;-,' ,.: i;

== i i. ,ir i:

;i r.,-t, -'' i,.- fr"';"{' ii" :;"'' ;:.,':r"J

!E

Ik

lenaYS

m-

nce

to-)urLnd

)utlas

ile,:ee

r1-:

BethesdaMagazlne.com I March/April 20rr 49

:iltfrl

Top 1% of RealtorsNationwide

Specializing in Fotomac,'Rockvitle? gethesda

Margie HalemEverywhereYou Want to Be

301-775-4196 (c)

301-907-7600 (o)ma rgi eh a I em @ I on gan dfoster. co m

www.margi ehalem realtor. com

Licensed in MD, VAond the Districtof Columbia

IBOaerLron 5""J0'J.?,il|9