Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking in September in Washington. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

One of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's often-told anecdotes about her role as a parent goes like this: When her son James was a student at Dalton School in New York in the 1970s, he was somewhat of a troublemaker, so she would often get calls asking her to come to the school to discuss his behavior.

Teaching at Columbia Law School at the time, Ginsburg once testily informed the school official, "This child has two parents. Please alternate calls." Her request resulted in fewer calls overall, James later said, because the school was more reluctant to bother a father than a mother.

At a National Constitution Center event in Washington Tuesday night, Ginsburg elaborated on the episode, revealing that the school official she received calls from was Dalton's headmaster Donald Barr, father of current U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

Ginsburg said she characterized her son as "lively," but Barr thought he was "hyperactive." She said that one time when Barr did call her husband Martin Ginsburg, he reported that James had "stolen" the school's elevator. The late Martin Ginsburg, known for his wit, asked Barr, "How far could he have taken it?" In fact, the boy had taken over operation of the elevator briefly on a dare.

Asked by Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, whether she thought Donald Barr was sexist, Ginsburg shrugged and said, "That's the way it was" at the time. Women were presumed to be at home, while fathers were presumed to be at work. Rosen, who also went to Dalton School, has compiled many of Ginsburg's anecdotes and observations in a new book Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty and Law.

The disclosure about Donald Barr was foreshadowed earlier in the evening when several of her anecdotes were set to music in a performance of "The Long View: A Portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Nine Songs." The 40-minute song cycle was written and performed by soprano Patrice Michaels, Justice Ginsburg's daughter-in-law, and James's wife. She made reference to "headmaster Barr."

The conversation with Ginsburg steered clear of current events, focusing on her life and career. She made headlines on Monday when she was asked at a New York event about President Trump's query whether the Supreme Court could halt his impeachment. Trump is "not a lawyer," she said. Ginsburg was not asked about the comment on Thursday, and she said nothing about it.

But the 86-year-old justice did volunteer that "I'm feeling fine" and that "I love my job," statements that brought loud applause from the audience. Ginsburg had been hospitalized last month with chills and a fever and in August underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer. It was her fourth bout with cancer.

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