American Martyr [Paperback]

William Schneider (Author), Jonathan Myrick Daniels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992

Jon Daniels, a 26-year-old seminary student and volunteer civil rights worker, was shot to death in broad daylight on August 20, 1965, by a deputy sheriff as Daniels approached a cash story in Hayneville, Alabama. The bullet was intended for a 16-year-old black girl, whom Jon pushed to the ground, thus saving her life. The deputy sheriff was acquitted; the jurys verdict was deplored by the press and the church, while American society still struggled with fresh reminders of racism in the aftermath of the Watts Riots.

Product Details

• Paperback: 111 pages
• Publisher: Morehouse Group; Cmv edition (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819215864
• ISBN-13: 978-0819215864
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,562,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An American hero, December 24, 2002

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Martyr (Paperback)

Many Christians today have what some sociologists of religion have called a "suburban spirituality": we like our religion neatly trimmed, safe, gated, and above all respectable. As a consequence, fewer and fewer of us are willing to take chances--much less, God forbid, risks--for the sake of the Gospel. Little wonder that some of the folks most ardently working for peace and justice have a healthy distrust of Christianity.

Jon Daniels, a seminary (Episcopal) student, was someone who had no use for suburban spirituality. He went down to Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights disturbances, lived the Gospel's message of service, and eventually was gunned down by a white deputy sheriff (who was acquitted by an all-white jury!)when he pushed a black teenager out of the way and caught the gunshot blast intended for her.

Daniels was only in his mid-twenties when he was martyred, but his essays, letters, and journal, which make up a good half of this biography, reveal a man who had thought and prayed deeply about the need to live the Gospel message of service to others. The book, first published some 35 years ago, has been reprinted by Moorehouse Press, and deserves wider attention than it's gotten thus far. Jon Daniels is a real American hero.