The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods and the End of Earth First! [Hardcover]

Kate Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

In l990, a car bomb in Oakland almost killed radical Earth First! leader Judi Bari and her passenger, a co-leader and onetime lover, Darryl Cherney. The FBI accused the pair of transporting the explosive device knowingly as part of a violent campaign of "ecotage." From her hospital bed, Bari charged that the timber interests of Northern California and the FBI had tried to kill her. The car bomb and the competing conspiracy theories about who was responsible made Bari a national figure; but she had long been a legendary figure among California activists. A veteran of the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s who moved to militant feminism and environmentalism after the war ended, Bari was involved in the radical eco-organization Earth First! by the mid-1980s and leading the fight against the logging companies on the Northern California coast. Not long before the attempt on her life, she had summoned young people from all over the country to join her in a crusade to save the remaining redwood forests of the Pacific Coast in a "Redwood Summer" based on the Mississippi Summer of the civil rights movement a quarter-century earlier. The Secret Wars of Judi Bari traces Bari's rise from college activist to a would-be Mother Jones of the Redwoods. Drawing on extensive interviews with Bari's friends, comrades and critics, Kate Coleman describes Bari's long struggle for selfhood against her communist parents and her husband (himself a former member of violent political groups); against those in her movement who felt that she was not radical enough; and ultimately against the FBI and the State of California. Judi Bari's wars continued until her death from cancer five years after the explosion that changed her life forever. In creating a dramatic portrait of a unique American life, Coleman takes the reader inside the radical politics that outlived the 1960s, and into the Earth First! movement and the back-to-nature counterculture of the North Coast of California. This is a world that Coleman has lived in herself and spent her career documenting as a writer. In The Secret Wars of Judi Bari she has produced a book that is at once a crime story, a social history, and a compelling biography of a woman at war with her world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate Coleman is a veteran investigative reporter who has covered the Black Panther Party, the counter culture and California politics for the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, Salon, Mother Jones and other publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554740
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554740
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

255 of 267 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars compelling!, January 29, 2005

By 

Maresa (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods and the End of Earth First! (Hardcover)

I felt this was a rich and complete evaluation of the life and struggles of the dedicated environmentalist, Judi Barri.
This book thoughtfully explores the complicated intersection of the personal and political in a wonderfully gripping tale of political activism, passion and crime.

267 of 281 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even the "good guys" are human, January 24, 2005

By 

W. Willy (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods and the End of Earth First! (Hardcover)

An excellent job on a tough subject and very readable. This book does a wonderful job detailing the story behind the bombing of Judi Bari and gives a clear picture of a driven environmentalist who was all too human. It is well researched and does a thorough and engaging job of describing Judi and the aspects of the environmental movement with which she was associated. The story is disturbing for those of us who would like to believe that the leaders involved in this movement always approach this cause with impeccable moral integrity. It will also bother those who would prefer to ignore the truth in order to maintain the appearance of infallability and moral righteousness of the participants within the movment. For the rest of us it is a very worthwhile read.

246 of 260 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, Fair and Informative, February 28, 2005

By 

M. Parsley (Northern Calif.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Wars of Judi Bari: A Car Bomb, the Fight for the Redwoods and the End of Earth First! (Hardcover)

I found Kate Coleman's book on Judi Bari to be extremely well researched and presented. A "can't put down" piece of history about an environmentalist whose heart, words and actions were not always going in the same direction. I grew up in San Francisco in the sixties and moved to the North Coast 22 years ago. Reading this book has been like a walk down memory lane. One of the most important elements of truth is proportion and I believe that The author "Kate Coleman" has succeeded in bringing to the reader a perspective that gives true insight to the many different views that are held on this issue. Kate did lots of home work for this book and she did it well. Thank you Kate

Marc Parsley