WASHINGTON (AP) - He's a Springsteen fan, history buff and marksman. He can whip up a salmon pate, but don't ask him to bake a cake. His marriage proposal began as an offer to take dancing lessons. These insights into Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito came from his wife, Martha, who confided in an interview that the man who has pondered weighty issues as a federal appeals judge for more than a decade has some interesting quirks.
His music tastes tend toward Beethoven and Bruce Springsteen but "I force him to listen to Scarlatti and Bach," Mrs. Alito said in a Washington Post interview published Monday. He once attended a ska festival—that's rock music, with a touch of reggae and horns.
Lately, her husband has been reading "Civil War stuff," Mrs. Alito says. Once, he began teaching himself Greek so he could read the philosophers in their original language. He also took up juggling.
"He's a great marksman—he can do double clays," she says, meaning he can hit two clay pigeon targets thrown simultaneously into the air before either hits the ground.
On their first date, they discussed a movie about an Asian mystic's travels through Afghanistan and his search for the meaning of life. Alito's marriage proposal began with a different sort of proposal—"Let's go take dancing lessons."
Her husband is a gourmet cook, skilled in such delicacies as salmon pate, but don't expect dessert. "He's not a baker," Mrs. Alito said.
And while he usually prepares the family's holiday dinner, last month he was too tied up with nomination matters, she said.
