BRISTOL — Whenever he can, Peter Resnick walks to work. From his home in Boston’s Back Bay, he can take the quicker, more direct route to the high-rise office of his international law firm, or he can take the slightly longer route through Boston Common.

He prefers the scenic route. On those frequent walks through the park a couple of years ago, he often passed by a man named Chris, a regular with a shopping cart full of all his worldly possessions. They struck up a banter, the attorney who defends multinational pharmaceutical and biotech firms and the man living on the streets.

One day, Mr. Resnick teased Chris, who was wearing a New York Giants football jacket, about being a Giants fan. Chris responded by saying, “This isn’t a Giants jacket, it’s a warm jacket.” It made Mr. Resnick think about who he was talking to, and the thought stayed with him.

One day, Chris wasn’t there, but his shopping cart was, trusted to the care of another homeless man, Rob. Mr. Resnick and Rob started talking, and then they kept talking. Day after day, a relationship formed, until one day Mr. Resnick took it further.

After he and his wife, Kathleen, had attended a benefit concert for the homeless, they talked about his “friends” from the Common. He decided to get involved. He asked them if they wanted help, if they wanted to get off the streets.

They did. Mr. Resnick helped them both.

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NATIONAL ATTENTION

The story of the book club for Boston’s homeless has gone national, including:

• A Sunday Boston Globe feature article on July 5

• A featured segment on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, scheduled for Friday night, July 31, 6:30 p.m.

• A People magazine story scheduled for release in the next issue

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In Rob’s case, Mr. Resnick even drove to a town in western Massachusetts, pro bono, to help his friend clear up a criminal record linked to outstanding parking tickets that was preventing him from getting housing assistance.

Both Chris and Rob have homes and part-time jobs now, thanks in part to Mr. Resnick and housing assistance workers in Boston. But, that is not the end of the story.

A gathering of equals

Mr. Resnick, a Bristol homeowner who splits his time between here and Boston, likes reading books. So does Rob. As their relationship developed over the months it took to get Rob housing assistance, Mr. Resnick shared a couple of books with Rob. The first was “Water for Elephants.” The next was “The Kite Runner.”

Mr. Resnick asked Rob what he did with the books when he was done with them. Turns out he had passed the books to other homeless folks, who welcomed something to help pass the time, not to mention food for the soul. Thus an idea was born.

Spurred by Mr. Resnick, and with the assistance of Episcopal Deacon Ron Tibbetts, a book club was formed. They’ve met regularly for the past 10 months, typically about eight, sometimes as many as a dozen homeless men and women, delving into books like “Angela’s Ashes,” “The Glass Castle” and “Water for Elephants.”

Mr. Resnick attends most book club gatherings and, besides buying the books and the coffee and doughnuts, joins the discussions. It’s good for his soul, too.

“It’s really changed my perception of the homeless world,” Mr. Resnick said. “There are all kinds of people who are homeless ... One member of our club is an Ivy League graduate, a really smart guy. Another is an ex-Marine with combat experience, another is an ex-Army guy ... There are several women.

“It’s a meeting of equals when we have the book club. I learn as much from them as they learn from me.”

Mr. Tibbetts, not only a deacon but the former executive director of a Boston housing and outreach agency that shut down in May, is integral to the book club’s success. He arranged for a beautiful meeting, room courtesy of the Episcopal Diocese, and he often leads the book discussions. They’ve read 10 books so far, but that is not the club’s greatest accomplishment.

To explain the club’s impact, Mr. Tibbetts first described a typical day for a homeless person in Boston. They wake under the direction of someone else — a shelter worker, police officer or business owner — who tells them it’s time to move on. If they want breakfast, they have to be at a certain place between certain hours and behave a certain way, to conform to certain rules. If they want lunch, they have to be at another place at a certain time, once again conforming to the rules for behavior, conversation, etc.

In other words, said Mr. Tibbetts, despite their apparent “freedom,” their whole day is spent meeting someone else’s requirements and criteria. Not so at the book club.

“When you’re homeless, there are very few places where you’re given the freedom to express what you feel, what you think, without any consequences. At the book club, you can do that.”

He said book club participants gain confidence.

“They just feel better about themselves; it adds such a level of confidence to them, that comes through when they’re in a position to seek housing, advocacy, employment, recovery programs, alcohol and drug programs.”

Story goes national

The book club and Mr. Resnick’s story are making national news. A Sunday Boston Globe feature article got the story started earlier this month. That prompted the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric to spend a couple of days in Boston last week for a segment that will air Friday night, part of the show’s Assignment America series. It launched a People magazine story to be published this week as well.

People have started contacting Mr. Resnick from around the country seeking advice on starting their own book clubs for the homeless. The man who is senior counsel for McDermott Will & Emery, a firm with more than 1,000 lawyers in offices across the globe, the man who made a career defending billion-dollar drug companies and other high-powered firms in product and commercial litigation, never planned to start a national trend. He simply reached out his hand to meet a couple of guys in the park.

“I feel very good about the fact that these guys are no longer on the streets and they’re working and they have homes,” Mr. Resnick said. “They’re both terrifically good guys, and they both now give back to the community, they both volunteer ... This has just been a fabulous thing.”