Paul Loeb

February 17, 2009

I hit the campus in fall of 1970, and was very involved  in a group
called “The Young Crows,” a slightly mocking name that I believe Lenny
Siegel came up with to contrast with the electronic warfare specialists
in Electrical Engineering, who called themselves “The Old Crows.” Under
Lenny’s sage mentorship (four years at that age makes a huge difference)
I got very involved around issues like military recruiting, plus set up
a network of Vietnam study groups in the freshman dorms (based on a
model from my own freshman RA in Rinconada) that ended up involving
something like 500 people. Also spent a lot of time trying to overcome
the ill-will created by all the macho postering and revolutionary
megolamania that was all too prominent in the movement. By a year and a
half later I ended up getting kicked out along with my friends Pete
Knutson, Steve Downey and one other person (I think either Fred Royce or
Don Zweig) as “The Placement Center Four” for going into a room with a
Honeywell recruiter, showing pictures of what their cluster bombs were
doing to people in Indochina, and refusing to leave. (We had a series of
trials, held earlier and earlier and in less and less inaccessible
locations, till they ended at some point like 6:30 AM next to the
Stanford police station). My friend Pete Knutson and I then moved to NY
where we finished our undergraduate degrees at The New School and I then
ended up helping edit and run the magazine Liberation, that Dave
Dellinger had started in the 50s along with AJ Muste, Paul Goodman,
Bayard Rustin and some other pretty amazing people, all of whom were
gone by then, and mostly no longer living.

After three years I was burned out and left to start writing. Did a lot
of articles on politics and culture and my first book came out in 1982.
Called Nuclear Culture, it looked at the psychology of atomic weapons
and power workers at the largest nuclear reservation in the world, in
Washington State. I then wrote a second book, Hope in Hard Times, on
grassroots peace activists. In the process I started lecturing at
colleges to make a living. Later I wrote Generation at the Crossroads,
on the Gen X students, and Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in
a Cynical Time , which took off (especially in college classes) as an
underground bestseller on citizen activism, and now has 100,000 copies
in print. My most recent book is The Impossible Will Take a Little
While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, an anthology on
political hope that the American Book Association and the History
Channel named the #3 political book of 2004.

I’ve also continued to make my living speaking on citizen activism at
colleges and conferences and a 2002 talk I gave to the American
Association of State Colleges & Universities inspired that association’s
200-campus American Democracy Project. I spent most of the past year
creating and running a 14-state campus election engagement project to
help colleges and universities get their students involved in the election.

I’ve lived in Seattle for the past 30 years and am married with a
stepson who’s now a college junior. See www.paulloeb.org.

 

Paul Loeb
3232 41st Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
www.PaulLoeb.org

 

 

PS—if you’re curious here’s a flier on my books..

 

SUBJECT: HARNESSING HOPE FOR CHANGE

In these promising but uncertain times, I thought you’d be interested in
a book that can keep people going in working for change no matter what
the barriers they face—The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A
Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear.

The Impossible creates a conversation among some of the most visionary
and eloquent voices of our times: Think Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou,
Arundhati Roy, Tony Kushner, Václav Havel, Pablo Neruda, and Howard
Zinn. Alice Walker, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ackerman, Susan Griffin, and
Marian Wright Edelman. Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, Jim
Hightower, and Desmond Tutu.

With this book, editor Paul Rogat Loeb, whom Susan Sontag has called "a
national treasure" for his work on courage and conscience, builds on his
activist classic, "Soul of a Citizen."  He explores what it's like to go
up against Goliath, whether South African apartheid, the iron fist of
Eastern European dictatorship, or Mississippi segregation.   These
stories don't sugarcoat the obstacles. But they inspire hope by showing
what keeps us keeping on--even when the odds seem overwhelming. They
replenish the wellsprings of our commitment.

If you care about change in a world where most people are told their
voices don't count, think of this book as a gift to yourself---bread for
the journey to keep on working for and sustenance to return to again and
again when your spirit begins to flag.

Find out more by visiting www.theimpossible.org. You'll find excerpts from the book, wonderful reviews, Paul’s national speaking schedule, and live
interviews. There’s also information on classroom use including sample
study questions (both books are teaching wonderfully, in every
conceivable discipline), and on Loeb’s Soul of a Citizen (an underground
bestseller now in its seventeenth printing, see www.soulofacitizen.org
<http://www.soulofacitizen.org>).  And to get Paul’s regular articles,
email sympa@lists.onenw.org with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb-articles.

Bill Moyers writes, "You are part of what's good about this world and I
admire your work very much. This book can even make one hopeful about
the future despite so many signs to the contrary." Barbara Ehrenreich
says, "For anyone worn down by Bushism, The Impossible Will Take a
Little While is a bracing double cappuccino!" And Arianna Huffington
writes, "Put away your Prozac and pick up The Impossible Will Take a
Little While."

Please forward it to anyone who could use a song of hope in these
difficult times.  And do your soul a favor by reading the book.

 

THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: COMMENTS & REVIEWS

History Channel & American Book Association's #3 political book for
2004. Winner Nautilus Award for best social change book

"You are part of what's good about this world and I admire your work
very much. This book can even make one hopeful about the future despite
so many signs to the contrary."—Bill Moyers

"This might possibly be the most important collection of stories and essays you will ever read."     —American Book Association & History Channel top-10 2004 political book list

"Paul Loeb brings hope for a better world in a time when we so urgently need it."—Millard Fuller, founder, Habitat for Humanity

"A much needed salvo against despair."—Psychology Today

"Hopeful, inspiring and motivating...May well be required reading for us all."--Sierra Club magazine

 

“Deeply moving and motivating… a retinue to be reckoned with; a plethora
of commentary from those dedicated to the concept of a better
world”—Baltimore Sun

 

"As I read these stories, I am reminded yet again of the incredible power we have as individuals and the multiplication of that power when we come together." --Joan Blades, cofounder, MoveOn.org

 

"Stunning insights...educational and inspirational."—Seattle Times

 

"A stirring collection of essays aimed at people who still want to believe that ordinary people can change the world." —Atlanta Journal Constitution

 

"This inspiring collection is such a song of hope in these difficult times--Bonnie Raitt

 

"For anyone worn down by Bushism, The Impossible Will Take a Little While is a bracing double cappuccino!"—Barbara Ehrenreich

 

"An anthology of some of the most powerful voices of our time."—Boston Globe

 

"A magnificent anthology celebrates hope, guts, and the power of taking action.... Loeb has done us a great favor [and] compiled for us the words of 49 of the most gifted and heroic men and women of our time, 49 testimonials to stamina and compassion in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, 49 reasons to keep hope alive in this time of frustration and fear, 49 ways to take action..."--Pam Houston, Oprah Magazine [Lead Review]

 

"An extremely important effort."—John Kenneth Galbraith

 

"A wonderful book, with some extraordinary folks contributing. It reminds us that darkness always comes before the dawn."—Reg Weaver, president, National Education Association

 

"Stop worrying, stop feeling sorry for humanity and read 'The Impossible Will Take a Little While.'"—Chicago Tribune

 

"An indispensable anthology of hope and inspiration. Put away your Prozac, and pick up The Impossible Will Take a Little While." —Arianna Huffington

 

"Refreshingly empowering, healing, and amazingly inspirational. It touches the imagination, retrieves the faith, and is desperately needed by our country to provoke new hope and meaning. It is a glass half full for the cynic and the fearful, a compilation of vision for the complacent, and an antidote for the despondent--truly a must read for everyone."—-Steelabor, United Steelworkers of America

 

"A book of essays meant to inspire people."—Christian Science Monitor

 

"Reading this hymnbook of hope, one's heart cannot help but sing."
—Vicki Robin, author, Your Money or Your Life

 

SOME COMMENTS ON LOEB’S SOUL OF A CITIZEN

“I stayed up half the night reading Soul of a Citizen, finding it a beautiful and morally transcendent work. Paul Loeb is a personal hero of mine who gives decency and generosity a political character, in the humblest of ways.”—Jonathan Kozol

 

"A passionate but reasoned call for Americans to become involved in issues that matter."—Chicago Sun-Times

 

"Brims with stirring stories of everyday heroes who saw something wrong, heeded the voice of their conscience, gathered support and, acting in concert with others, changed things and made a difference."—Philadelphia Inquirer

 

"Soul of a Citizen helps us find the faith we need to act on our deepest beliefs—and keep on."—Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund

 

“As he tells the stories of ordinary people who became activists, Loeb examines the stumbling blocks—perceived powerlessness, cynicism, burnout—that keep most Americans from participating in the public sphere, as well as the rewards of following a different path.”—Sierra Club Magazine

 

"It should be mandatory reading for anyone over the age of 12—especially every woman or man who has traded 'I give a damn' for  'I give up.'"—Stephanie Salter, San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle