Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman [Paperback]

Kathryn Watterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2001

The riveting account begins in 1991, when Cantor Michael Weisser receives his first threatening phone call from Larry Trapp, Grand Dragon of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Nebraska. Trapp, a wheelchair-bound amputee holed up in a cramped apartment filled with automatic weapons, Nazi paraphernalia, and stacks of hate literature, had for years led a campaign of terror in Lincoln, Nebraska. But Cantor Weisser and his wife Julie refused to be intimidated by Trapp's escalating threats. Instead, they made a stunning offer of friendship; after an emotional confrontation with the Weissers, Trapp shocked everyone -- including himself -- by resigning from the KKK and breaking his ties with other neo-Nazi leaders.

Not by the Sword recounts Larry Trapp's life as a racist, his startling transformation in response to the Weissers' kindness, and his subsequent crusade to redeem his past by apologizing to his victims and speaking out publicly against racism and bigotry. Kathryn Watterson movingly describes how one family, along with other individuals from the Jewish, African American, and Asian American communities in Lincoln, feared, fought, and then forgave a man who had tried to destroy them.

This gripping tale gives the reader an inside view of hate mongering, and offers a powerful testament to the triumph of the human spirit and the transforming power of love and tolerance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This rare investigation of American hate-mongering provides a unique glimpse as well at the power of tolerance and love. Once Watterson places us inside the Lincoln, Nebraska apartment of the 'Klansman' of the subtitle, it's almost impossible to put this book down."--Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle

"Watterson has written one of the most powerful, painful yet healing stories about our most explosive issue--race. Her book [Not by the Sword] is not only literally true, but also symbolically true for us as a people - if we acknowledge and transform who and what we are."--Professor Cornel West, Author, Race Matters

"Kathryn Watterson's Not by the Sword tells an astonishing story of daring and resourcefulness in making contact with another who would negate one's very right to exist. Michael Weisser, the cantor at B'nai Jeshurun synagogue, had been the recipient of chilling threats from Larry Trapp, the Grand Dragon of the KKK in the state. Not surprisingly, [Weisser's] initial reaction was fear and anger. But Weisser and his wife Julie decided that the wisest course, and the one truest to what Weisser had been preaching in his sermons, would be to meet hate with love and understanding. Watterson's account of the events is fascinating, and the story itself is so extraordinary that one cannot but be gripped by it."--Paul L. Wachtel, The Washington Post Book World

"'He changed his mind and he changed his life,' marvels Author Kathryn Watterson, whose latest book tells the extraordinary tale of Trapp's conversion. In the course of researching Not by the Sword, [she] discovered that most people who engage in virulent race hatred were abused as children. Full of self-loathing, 'they stay in the perceived wrongs that have been done them,' she said, 'but the fact that their hatefulness is defensive doesn't mean it's less dangerous."--David O'Reilly, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Review

"The true-life people in Kathryn Watterson's Not by the Sword are unforgettable human beings, especially Larry Trapp. This eerie, wounded, hate-filled man, this Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who is holed up and dying in an apartment packed with enough weapons to blow up a small city, and who is dragged out of hell into a redemption of love, is one of the most perfectly rendered characters in literary non-fiction that I've ever encountered. I can't get Larry Trapp out of my mind. His story and the heroism of the cantor's family is a parable for modern America, told with great intelligence and skill." (Richard Preston Author, The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (June 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555534716
• ISBN-13: 978-1555534714
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and inspiring, September 10, 2001

By 

MLA "magsnj" (Pennsauken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman (Paperback)

The first part of this book is a frightening portrait of a dangerous, unstable neo-Nazi. After reading what the book reveals about the personalities of some of these people, racially mixed families might pause before visiting certain parts of our country.
Cantor Weiss's ability to show tolerance and kindness to KKK member Larry Trapp is extremely moving and awe-inspiring. One of the things I learned from this book is that Weiss's capacity for forgiveness actually has deep roots in the Jewish tradition.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book if You Want to Understand America's "Hate" Groups, September 1, 2008

By 

B. Wolinsky "Ben's Reviews" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman (Paperback)

Micheal Weisser is the Cantor (and de facto Rabbi) of a congregation in Lincoln, Nebraska. He's had a rough childhood, been in prison for a while, but now he's a devoted husband, father, and step-father, and part of a growing community.
Weisser is aware of the hate groups in Lincoln, but when he gets nasty calls from a member of the Nebraska KKK, he tries a radical method. He approaches the racist bigot as a friend. This bigot turns out to be a lonely diabetic whose now half-blind. He joined the KKK because nobody else offered him friendship. Larry Trapp, the Grand Dragon of the KKK, quickly sheds his racist ideologies. Slowly, Trapp, Weisser, and others start reaching out to racist kids in an effort to neutralize all the hate groups that are recruiting them.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Story of Compassion, January 5, 2008

By 

Amy Ainsley "Happy Napper" (Lincoln, NE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman (Paperback)

I was in Junior High in Lincoln, NE when this story happened. I spent most of my time junior high and high school discussing Larry Trapp and the Weisser family. I was fortunate enough to have Cantor Weisser speak at a candlelight vigil I held during my senior year in high school. This is an amazing book.