[Typed Letter, Signed, to Peter Goldman, Refusing Goldman's Offer to Write a Biography of Marshall]

Washington DC: March 18, 1974. Very good plus.. [1]p., on Marshall's Supreme Court letterhead, with Marshall's signature in blue ink. Original mailing folds, minor wear. A brief but altogether interesting letter sent by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to Newsweek Senior Editor Peter Goldman in 1974, connecting one of the greatest African Americans in history with a notable biographer of Malcolm X. Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was a trailblazing figure in 20th-century American law. He was a tremendously-successful civil rights lawyer who led the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Marshall argued over thirty cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning twenty-nine of them, most notably Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas which eventually led to school desegregation. In 1967, Marshall made history when he was appointed as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court -- the first African-American ever appointed to the nation's highest court. He faithfully served the Supreme Court for almost twenty-five years, until his retirement in 1991. Peter Goldman was a journalist and biographer who spent forty-seven years of his award-winning career with Newsweek as a senior or contributing editor focusing on special projects and presidential elections. Following the assassination of Malcolm X, Goldman researched and wrote one of the definitive biographies of the great Muslim leader, The Death and Life of Malcolm X in 1973. Apparently, the next year, he set his sights on writing a biography of Marshall. The book would never come to pass. The text of the present letter provides good context for the issue of Marshall's biography, reading in full: "Dear Mr. Goldman: I have your letter of February 25, concerning the proposal of your doing a book on me. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have refused all offers to do books on me or my life and cannot break that rule at this late date. The last specific turn down I remember having made was to the late Bennett Cerf. Sincerely, Thurgood Marshall." Given Marshall's importance in American life, it is indeed the case that he is under-represented in the sphere of historical biography. Now we know one of the main reasons why. (Inventory #: 6020)