CLARENCE, N.Y. -- By his own admission, Clarence-native Solomon Schmidt was a little different than other kids.

"I was never into sports as a kid. I couldn't quite find what I was passionate about," Schmidt said.

Home-schooled from 5th grade through graduation, Schmidt said he usually finished his studies around noon. The question was what to do with the rest of the day.

"I knew I loved politics and history, that I was fascinated in those topics," Schmidt said.

His father suggested he write a book. His mom helped out with the name: "History Bites."

"Every chapter in my 'History Bites' series is a few pages with fun facts, lots of pictures, vocabulary, review questions, to make it accessible for kids," Schmidt said.

By 18 years old, the young author self-published eight "History Bites" books but it was time to write for a more mature audience.

"I wrote the book I wanted to read. I wrote the book that I would've been excited to read or that made sense to me," Schmidt said.

The topic Schmidt chose was controversial attorney, law professor, speaker, author and Zionist Alan Dershowitz. He set off to answer two questions: How did a troubled kid from New York City end up representing a president during impeachment proceedings?

And why would someone who spent most of his life as a Democrat risk the backlash of defending Donald Trump?

The book opens in Martha's Vineyard with Dershowitz's one-time friend, comedian Larry David, berating him.

"It's disgusting. Your whole enclave, it's disgusting. You're disgusting," Schmidt read an excerpt from the book.

It isn't just about Trump, who Schmidt did interview. He spent roughly three years researching and writing about the now 86-year-old's entire life, including his relationship with Israeli prime ministers from Meir to Netanyahu and his nearly five-decade career at Harvard.

"Ten thousand students, including Ted Cruz, Jamie Raskin, Natalie Portman, Elliott Spitzer, Jeffrey Toobin, Elena Kagen, not to name drop, pretty much all of them I interviewed for this book," he said.

Schmidt spoke with with Dershowitz's clients, friends and critics from Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Noam Chomsky. He also spent considerable time with Dershowitz himself.

"He was totally transparent," Schmidt said. "We talked about everything. I asked him as many questions I could think of about his first marriage that ended terribly and was a tragic part of his story. I asked him as many questions as I could think of about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and so many other parts of his life."

Schmidt said Dershowitz, once the youngest tenured Harvard Law professor in the school's history himself, never judged him by his age, but questioned what publisher would take his authorized biography from someone so young. In about an hour, he said he convinced him.

"I didn't sit down with the book and say how can I make Alan Dershowitz out to be this grand noble figure who can be remembered for all time as this wonderful man. I tried to tell a story. I tried to tell his life story," Schmidt said.

It is worth mentioning, Schmidt's publisher Skyhorse has a reputation for taking on projects others avoid including from authors like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones but Schmidt believes he landed in the right spot. He's already signed on for a biography about another controversial author JK Rowling due for release next year.