Federal Judge & Author, Michael Ponsor

Join us at the Monson Free Library for an exciting author talk with Judge Michael Ponsor!

Judge Ponsor will talk about how he creates his novels, his inspiration for the writing, and his path to publication.  He will describe how one of the goals of his narratives is to place the reader, so to speak, up on the bench, surveying the courtroom and taking on the pressures of trials.  His books have been described by local author Tracy Kidder as having "the heft of authenticity."

Michael Ponsor has served as a federal judge in western Massachusetts since 1984, first as a Magistrate Judge for ten years, and then after his appointment in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, as a U.S. District Court Judge.  He has published three novels featuring a fictional federal judge named David Norcross: The Hanging Judge in 2013, The One-Eyed Judge in 2017, and most recently Point of Order in 2024.  He continues his judicial work at the Springfield Federal Court as a Senior U.S. District Judge.