Karlis Spalvins was born on April 25, 1942 in Madona, Latvia. His father was in the military and was captured. The family escaped to Northern Denmark and after the war were reunited with Karl’s father who was a prisoner of war in Germany. After several years in a displaced person’s camp, at nine year’s old, he saw the Statute of Liberty as they came to America. Karl said then that he would become a citizen and at 18, he did! The family moved to Northwest Ohio, added a sister to join his brother Andre, and ultimately settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up he worked on a family farm in Canada and engaged in sports, including being on the State Championship Cross County team his senior year. He majored in Geology at Bowling Green and graduated in May 1965. He got his Master’s in Geology at Emory in May 1967 where his dissertation was published. After four years in the Air Force, he graduated from U.T. Law in December 1973 and was licensed on April 27, 1974. He was later admitted to the bar of the U.S. Court of Appeals in April 1978 and the U.S. Supreme Court in June 19, 1978.