In a recent blog post, the Hotline's Jennifer Skalka recalls her experience interviewing (and receiving a subsequent letter from) Justice David Souter while working on a profile of prominent New Hampshire lawyer, Dudley Orr, in December 2002.

Here's an excerpt from her Hotline On Call post:

I requested an interview with the notoriously press averse Souter via his SCOTUS office. Expecting full well that he wouldn't want to talk, I continued with my reporting. Orr, I discovered, was a character. He wore three piece suits routinely, and sports jackets as a more casual look on weekends. He played gin and cribbage regularly with his wife; the loser would deposit $20 in each of the grandchildren's bank accounts. He was beloved across political lines.

And then came the call. I was told Souter would phone me at a particular time on Christmas Eve. It snowed the day of our planned interview. As I drove up Mountain Road en route to the Monitor, leaving enough time to journey carefully through the weather, I marveled that a year out of graduate school, I would have the opportunity to interview a sitting SCOTUS justice. It was -- and is -- one of the miracles of the Monitor. Access to wonderful people and politicians and newsmakers -- even for a neophyte journalist.

Subscribers can read the entire post, including Souter's letter, here.