Synopses & Reviews
On Earth Day 1970 twenty million Americans displayed their commitment to a clean environment. It was called the largest demonstration in human history, and it permanently changed the nationandrsquo;s political agenda. More than 1 billion people now participate in annual Earth Day activities.
and#160;and#160;and#160; The seemingly simple ideaandmdash;a day set aside to focus on protecting our natural environmentandmdash;was the brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. It accomplished, far beyond his expectations, his lifelong goal of putting the environment onto the nationandrsquo;s and the worldandrsquo;s political agendas.
and#160;and#160;and#160; The life of Nelson, a small-town boy who learned his values and progressive political principles at an early age, is woven through the political history of the twentieth century. Nelsonandrsquo;s story intersects at times with Fighting Bob La Follette, Joe McCarthy, and Bill Proxmire in Wisconsin, and with George McGovern, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Russell Long, Walter Mondale, John F. Kennedy, and others on the national scene.and#160;Winner, Elizabeth A. Steinberg Prize, University of Wisconsin Pressand#160;
Review
"Widely regarded as one of the leading environmentalists in American history, Gaylord Nelson is best known as the founder of Earth Day. This political biography tells the rest of the storyhow a small town boy from Wisconsin became a national champion of a progressive agenda. Nelson's record on civil liberties, consumer issues, and Vietnam is remarkable. His story is an inspiration." Al Gore
Review
"Gaylord Nelson was one of the great public servants of the postWorld War II era. This illuminating book is a priceless account of his life and accomplishments."Tom Brokaw
Review
"A fun book to readfilled with fascinating stories of politics in the twentieth century. We yearn for more political leaders like Gaylord who always voted his conscience and led with integrity and humor."Bill Meadows, president, The Wilderness Society
Review
andldquo;His story is an inspiration.andrdquo;andmdash;Al Gore
Review
andldquo;Gaylord Nelson, the creative author of Earth Day, is the leading figure in American environmentalism. His prophetic opposition to the American war in Vietnam makes him a foreign policy statesman of the highest rank. During long years in the U.S. House and Senate I came to know many good men and womenandmdash;and a few great ones. Gaylord is one of the great ones, as this brilliant, well researched biography makes clear.andrdquo;andmdash;George McGovern
Review
andldquo;This beautifully written biography reveals a man of great diligence, who possessed the ability to mobilize citizens, senators, and presidents to make a stand for andlsquo;an environment of decency, quality, and mutual respect for all living creatures.andrsquo;andrdquo;andmdash;E Magazine
Synopsis
Rigoberto Gonzalez, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa, takes a second piercing look at his past through a startling new lens: hunger. The need for sustenance originating in childhood poverty, the adolescent emotional need for solace and comfort, the adult desire for a larger world, another lover, a different body all are explored by Gonzalez in a series of heartbreaking and poetic vignettes. Each vignette is a defining moment of self-awareness, every moment an important step in a lifelong journey toward clarity, knowledge, and the nourishment that comes in various forms even "the smallest biggest joys" help piece together a complex portrait of a gay man of color who at last defines himself by what he learns, not by what he yearns for.
Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement, Publishing Triangle
Told in a series of revealing vignettes and poems, Gonzalez sAutobiography of my Hungersturns moments of need and want into revelations of truth and self-awareness, creating the portrait of an artist that is complex if not entirely complete. El Paso Times
Through his provocative vignettes, Gonzalez communicates a lifetime of struggle for affirmation and self-acceptance. Make/Shift"
About the Author
Bill Christofferson, a former journalist who has worked in local and state government, is a political campaign consultant based in Milwaukee.
Table of Contents
Author's Note
Prologue: 22 April 1970
1 The Nelsons of Clear Lake
2 Happy
3 Into the World
4 General Nelson
5 Losing with La Follette
6 Building a Party
7 Taking on McCarthy
8 Getting Ready to Run
9 Nelson for Governor
10 A Two-Party State
11 An Ambitious Agenda
12 Family Fights
13 Still the Underdogs
14 The Conservation Governor
15 The Great Tax Debate
16 On to the Senate
17 The First Shall Be Last
18 Enlisting the President
19 Joining the Club
20 Defending the Constitution
21 Saving the Appalachian Trail
22 The Hard Detergent Battle
23 The Great Society
24 Islands and Rivers
25 Protecting Consumers
26 The Great Lakes
27 The Fight to Ban DDT
28 Vietnam
29 Earth Day
30 Immune to Presidential Fever
31 The Environmental Decade
32 A Lasting Legacy
Notes
Bibliography
Index