Walter Roth was born in 1929, the last Jewish child born in the village of Roth, Germany. He came to Chicago as a refugee with his father, stepmother and two siblings in 1938. Walter attended Hyde Park High School and the University of Illinois at Navy Pier. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School where he was editor of the law review and named to the Order of the Coif. He then spent a year and a half at Ma'aleh Hahamisha, a kibbutz in Israel. Upon his return to Chicago, he clerked for US District Court Judge Luther M. Swygert . Walter was a partner at the law firm of D'Ancona, Pflaum, Wyatt and Riskind, which merged with Seyfarth Shaw. He and his wife Chaya, a psychologist, have three children and seven grandchildren. Walter was president of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society and of the Midwest Region of the American Jewish Congress, where his work focused on civil rights. He is a life trustee of Congregation Rodfei Zedek of Hyde Park and was the first president of the board of Akiba Schechter Jewish Day School. Walter is the author of Departure and Return: Trips to and Memories from Roth, Germany; Looking Backward: True Stories from Chicago's Jewish Past; and Avengers, and Defenders: Glimpses of Chicago's Jewish Past; and co-author of An Accidental Anarchist.