Shurtleff is passionate about many things beyond the scope of politics. He has written several unfinished novels. Now he is writing a historical fiction account on the life of Dred Scott that he is determined to finish in time for next year's 150th anniversary of the slave who sued for his freedom.

Shurtleff has been researching the book for five years. During his travels on the job, when his business is concluded, he stays an extra day to conduct research in Missouri and Alabama and other places where Scott's life unfolded. To write the way slaves would have talked, he reread "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and similar books to try to capture the flavor of the speech. After work and after the family is asleep, he writes from 11 p.m. until 2:30 or 3 a.m.

"I want everyone to know that Dred Scott was a hero," says Shurtleff. "It's hard, at the end of the day, to sit down and be creative."

A voracious reader, he usually has several books going at once and quotes freely from Cicero, Aurelius, Adams, Jefferson, Coolidge, Kipling, often making a point to memorize passages.

LDS author "Sterling W. Sill wrote that we ought to keep an idea bank," says Shurtleff. "When we hear a saying or a poem, we should put it our bank. So I try to memorize some things."

It has paid some big dividends. After visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., he was struck by the words from Elie Wiesel's memoir, "Night," recorded on a wall in the Hall of Shoes. Shurtleff already had a soft spot for the Jewish people, having lived and studied in Israel for six months during a BYU study-abroad program. He memorized Wiesel's words on the spot, standing there in the Hall of Shoes. Then he bought Wiesel's memoir and reviewed it to keep it fresh in his mind.

A year later he was invited to Israel and was granted a meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He was promised just enough time to shake Sharon's hand and get a picture, but Shurtleff wasn't content with this. "If I may take a minute," he told Sharon. "I want you to know I'm not Jewish, but I love this country and I want to give you a gift." He proceeded to quote Wiesel's words from memory and teared up as he did so.

Sharon, too, began to weep. After Shurtleff was finished, there was silence. Sharon then postponed his next meeting so he could visit with Shurtleff.

The way Shurtleff remembers it, Sharon, a former general, told him, "My whole life I've killed people, my friends have died on my left and right, women and children have been killed. I'm so tired. I want peace. But if Arafat kills my people, I have to strike back."