Author, legal scholar, and current managing editor for Enterprise at POLITICO, Peter Canellos, will be attending Bookstock this May to read from his latest book, “The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero.” He will also be participating in a discussion with research assistant and colleague Adam Willis regarding the history and present influence of the Supreme Court, as well as his current writing project: an exploration of the conservative legal movement, structured through the life and decisions of Samuel Alito.
After graduating in the 1980s from Columbia Law School, Canellos spent most of his career writing and editing for various publications. As a Boston-native, he dedicated several years to the Boston Globe before moving on to his current role at POLITICO. Canellos was also the editor of the New York Times Bestseller “Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy,” before publishing his own book, “The Great Dissenter,” in 2021.
Spending the last ten years at POLITICO, Canellos says he continued to reflect on a career that provided him with the opportunity to see news media up close. “I’ve gained a seasoned and nuanced perspective on politics, and the seismic shifts that can permeate from our three branches of government,” he explained.
Canellos’ book follows the life and legacy of Justice John Marshall Harlan — a Kentucky native who stood against all the forces of Gilded Age America to fight for civil rights and economic freedoms. “With the cloud of the Civil War descending, and the stakes for human life and liberty being so high, it brought a kind of rigor to Harlan’s opinions and demolished certain personal prejudices and ideological precepts,” Canellos explained. “His commitment to the future and sustainability of our country, along with his dedication to equality, were just a few things I came to greatly admire about Justice Harlan and why I believe he is one of the most influential dissenters in Supreme Court history.”
While Canellos’ Bookstock event will begin with a reading from “The Great Dissenter,” it will be followed by a discussion of his upcoming project on the conservative shift in the Supreme Court, as well as an in-depth look at Justice Samuel Alito.
“There are some tremendous commonalities in these two stories — Harlan and Alito — one being the centrality of the Supreme Court. When you look back at Harlan’s era, the two biggest things happening in the country were segregation and the broken promise of Reconstruction. When you asked what the key determinants of that time were, the answer always came back to the Supreme Court’s rulings.”
As tensions continue to rise in the wake of mass deportations and inflated executive power, some can feel hopeless or powerless. To this, Canellos said, “I would tell people to not completely give up on the Supreme Court as a potential check on the presidency. That is one thing Harlan has taught me — people can always surprise you and rise above preconceived notions. A Southerner who grew up in Civil War time would go on to become one of the most zealous advocates for equality and freedom. Harlan completely confounded society’s expectations, and we’ve seen this happen all throughout Supreme Court history. Some people might say that the confirmation process has become so politicized that it’s much less likely to happen right now, and to that I could agree. But I don’t think that means we won’t see a return to the status and virtue Harlan brought to the bench. Only time will tell, but I would urge people to not lose hope just yet.”
Canellos will be discussing this relevant and timely material in even greater detail at his Bookstock event on Saturday, May 17, from 12-1:30 p.m. at the Norman Williams Public Library. Entry to the event is free; more information can be found on Bookstock’s https://bookstockvt.org/2025-schedule/.
For more on this, please see our May 1 edition of the Vermont Standard.
