Henry Massie
If you are interested in starting up a lively conversation with Henry Massie, all you have to say is, “Read any good books lately?” Though reading and writing legal briefs and case documentation takes up most of his office reading time, reading for pleasure takes up a lot of his out of office time.
His family is deeply rooted in Virginia. His great-uncle Thornton L. Massie, was the Circuit Court judge killed on the bench during what has become known as the Hillsville Courthouse Massacre. Massie’s grandfather Clifton Miller, founded Stuart Circle Hospital in Richmond where Massie was born, and his mother was a graduate of St. Catherine’s School, then Miss Jenny’s. His father came from Massie’s Mill near Lynchburg. He quite literally had not one dollar to call his own after the stock market crash of 1929. A successful career in building supply was a testament to his hard work.
An English major in college at UVA, Massie envisioned a career as a teacher and coach, using his experience as a high school and college football and baseball player to good advantage. But after a year, law school beckoned, and after graduation from UVA law school, he went to work for the Virginia Attorney General’s office. During his eight years there, he handled civil rights cases, as well as heading up the Commonwealth’s litigation in a series of utility rate cases and kepone litigation. Private practice however has afforded Massie his most memorable cases. His biggest disappointment was losing the defense of a highly publicized Richmond involuntary manslaughter case involving students at the Collegiate School. His proudest was winning the “unwinnable” subsequent civil case arising from that same matter.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that Massie has read “at least once a year” for many years. He has made presentations to book clubs on the subject and led discussions on the subtleties of Harper Lee’s masterpiece, believing that it is a book that “should be given to your children and grandchildren” to read and discuss. He has slogged through an 1880 translation of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, read the King James version of the Bible from cover to cover, and is currently reading Team of Rivals, a history of the politics of Abraham Lincoln.
But reading is not his only recreation. Massie and his wife have enjoyed vacations in Greece and Italy, golf outings in Scotland and Ireland, and are planning to visit the Provençe area of southern France. He enjoys the collegiality of the legal profession having tried over 300 cases in his career, and very much enjoys the challenge of a good lawsuit.
