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There was a senator, I think it was after my pancreatic cancer, who announced, with great glee, that I was going to be dead within six months. That senator, whose name I have forgotten, is now dead himself, and I am very much alive.
— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 86, recalling the words of the late Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), amid giggles, during a wide-ranging interview with Nina Totenberg, NPR’s legal affairs correspondent, where she discussed her health. In 1999, Ginsburg underwent surgery for colorectal cancer; in 2009, she underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer; and in 2018, she underwent surgery for lung cancer.
Less than two weeks ago, Justice Ginsburg attended a conference with the late Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired from the Supreme Court at the age of 90. While traveling together, they had the following conversation: “I said that my dream is that I will stay at the court as long as he did. And his immediate response was, ‘Stay longer!’”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.