Mr. Oster was born in Harvey, Ill., and studied philosophy at Loyola University Chicago before receiving a law degree from Cornell Law School. After a brief stint as a lawyer focused on antitrust and international trade, he began working as a journalist, first at the Chicago Sun-Times in 1973 as a criminal justice investigative reporter. In 1974, he joined U.S. News & World Report to cover the Supreme Court and justice department, before going back to the Chicago Sun-Times in 1977 to cover the same beat. In 1978, he became their bureau chief in Washington, D.C., covering the White House, foreign policy and the C.I.A. Eventually, in 1996, he became the editor in chief of The National Law Journal and then the managing editor for legal news at Bloomberg, from which he retired in 2015. He has written several novels, including, most recently, “The Man Who Fell in Love With His Wife: A Romantic Spy Novel.”
On her first date with Mr. Oster, Ms. Scott was charmed by the gifts he brought her: a baguette and a box of Neuhaus Chocolates. He found her as compelling in person as she had been on paper, and during lunch, they fell into an easy rhythm. They bonded over writing, their love of cooking and their experiences as end-of-life caregivers to their spouses.
