Essays. Memoir. The VOICES IN WARTIME ANTHOLOGY comprises poetry, essays, and narratives based on interviews conducted for the feature-length documentary film Voices in Wartime, which opened in theaters nationwide April 8, 2005. "The 240 pages of this anthology do not contain the words of politicians or pundits," said Andrew Himes, editor of the anthology and executive producer of the film Voices in Wartime. "Instead, it features active-duty soldiers, veterans, torture victims, war correspondents, the families of the disappeared and the dead, poets, peace activists-the compelling responses of unique, individual human beings to the experience of war." Chris Abani, Wilfred Owen and Jonathan Schell are among the contributors.
Andrew Himes, author of "The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family" (Chiara Press, May 2011) (www.swordofthelordbook.com ), and editor of the Voices in Wartime Anthology, was born into one of the leading fundamentalist families of the 20th century. His grandfather was John R. Rice, dean of American fundamentalists for decades until his death in 1980, and mentor to many younger Baptist preachers including Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, as well as founding editor of the "Sword of the Lord" newspaper. His great-grandfather, Will Rice, was a preacher, a Texas State senator, and a member of the Ku Klux Klan. By the time he was five, Himes had been saved and baptized; by the time he was 20, he'd turned his back on the career expected of the oldest son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist preachers, becoming instead an activist in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 60s. Only later in life did he begin a spiritual journey to reconnect with and redefine his family's spiritual heritage.
In his technology career, Himes was founding editor of the Microsoft Developer Network News, founding editor of MacTech Journal for Macintosh programmers, and led the development of the first web site at Microsoft in 1993.
Himes was co-founder of the international movement, "Poets Against the War," in 2003 and producer of the acclaimed 2005 documentary, Voices in Wartime, an exploration of the trauma of war through the lens of poetry (www.voicesinwartime.org ). He is the founder and president of Voices (www.voiceseducation.org ), a web site that amplifies the voices of veterans and civilian witnesses to war in order to heal the wounds of war and create a more peaceful world. He was an organizer for the Seeds of Compassion festival (www.seedsofcompassion.org ) in Seattle in 2008, and co-founder of the Compassionate Action Network. In April of 2011, he was selected as an Ambassador for the Charter for Compassion (www.charterforcompassion.org ).
Himes has been a lay preacher for many churches, and is a member of the Total Experience Gospel Choir (www.totalexperiencegospelchoir.org). He is a facilitator for emergent and transformative change in congregations, organizations, and communities.
Andrew's blog: www.andrewhimes.net.
