Told through essays, memoirs, and other musings, this is the story of a radical Jew, academic, and educator from his birth in Ukraine during the Holocaust through the radical 60s and 70s, to the present day as he fights anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, xenophobia, and hate.
Internationally known in Holocaust, genocide, and Jewish studies, Jack Nusan Porter was born in Maniewicz, Ukraine to Jewish Partisans in the 1940s. Through this engaging and thoughtful memoir, we follow Porter as he recounts his personal journey from a DP camp in Linz, Austria to an idyllic childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he attended Hebrew day school under Reb Twersk. Porter masterfully details his radicalism in the politically and sociologically turbulent 1960s which would later influence his academic work on genocide, Holocaust studies, and international human rights. Constantly re-inventing himself, readers are treated to engaging anecdotes as they navigate through Porter's highs, lows, and in-betweens.
About the Author :
Jack Nusan Porter founded the Jewish Student Movement in the 1960s and was editor of the classic movement anthology Jewish Radicalism. He is currently an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and a former associate of Harvard's Ukrainian Research Institute. His run for US Congress in the 12th District of Massachusetts was the subject of a profile in an April 2012 issue of "Talk of the Town" in The New Yorker. In 2015, he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the prediction and eradication of genocide.
Review :
"This remarkable and compelling book, a combination of memoir and articles by and about the author, provides an in-depth portrait of Jack Porter, a committed Jewish radical who has also retained his commitment to his very specific Jewish faith. It is a unique and highly readable account of his ongoing search for how Jews should relate to the modern world." - Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University; Chief Historian, Global Education Outreach Project, Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw
"One of the most admired and thoughtful heroes of the Jewish left, Jack Nusan Porter offers a remarkable memoir of his life and work. Vividly recounting mid-century Jewish life in middle America, along with travel to the new State of Israel, Porter gives us a thoughtful window into an extraordinary era that reconstituted Jewish identity after the Shoah."
-- Susannah Heschel, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College
