The early and later life of Daniel A. Taylor from his youth in Catlin, Illinois, to his education at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and following that at the University of California Berkeley and Harvard Law School to his professional life as a lawyer and to his family in Boston, Massachusetts. It touches on his early life growing up on the family farm, playing high school basketball and hunting pheasants with his father, his student activities at the U of I, his tumultuous year of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley and his success in law school and as a lawyer. Many challenges are noted in his civic life and his involvement including his time spent as Governor Michael Dukakis' chief legal counsel, serving as counsel to the Dukakis-Bentson candidacy for president, seeing as chair of the board of the University of Massachusetts, and serving as chair of the Governor's Judicial Nominating Commission. His love of his family shines through.