FROM YALE TO JAIL: The Life Story of a Moral Dissenter (Hardcover)

by David Dellinger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this loosely organized but surprisingly endearing memoir, peace activist and 1969 Chicago Seven defendant Dellinger recounts his diligent, remarkably consistent efforts to live according to his conscience. Born in 1915 to the family of a prominent Boston Republican lawyer, Dellinger ( Vietnam Revisited ) developed his revolutionary egalitarian politics at Yale and at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Earnest but not strident, he discusses his opposition to WW II and his principled refusal to pay bail, which led him to endure stints in many prisons. In straightforward prose, he recalls launching the magazine Liberation in 1956, tells of his early opposition to the Vietnam War and emphasizes how he aimed for a peaceful demonstration in Chicago during the Democratic Convention of 1968. While reflecting critically on such leaders as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dellinger also ruminates on his marriage, his family life and his everyday attempts to build bridges with strangers. His dedication--"I'm still learning and growing," he declares at 77--is inspirational.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
At the age of 75, Dellinger, a social activist best known as one of the Chicago Seven, can look back over a life crowded with more than enough peril and action for 100 men. A warm personality emerges from these pages, as reflected in Dellinger's vivid portrayal of the important--and unimportant--people he met and/or knew, the issues for which he lived and argued, and the events in which he was either an interested observer or active participant. While his disjointed narrative is something of a pastiche without literary merit, it reflects Dellinger's style. It has vigor. It has conviction. Some will disagree with Dellinger's views, but few will contend that he does not try to be fair and balanced and always concerned with human values. Well worth reading by anyone interested in the past half-century of American life.
- A.J. Anderson, GSLIS, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 501 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (March 31, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679405917
• ISBN-13: 978-0679405917
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #722,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Man, February 4, 2009

By	P. J. Sullivan (Northern California USA) - See all my reviews

A remarkable book by a remarkable man. David Dellinger was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. He could have had it all. A talented athlete from an affluent background, educated at Yale and Oxford, he had every advantage. But he gave it all up for justice and principle, enduring financial insecurity, long prison terms, hunger strikes, death threats, abuse and danger, for causes he believed in. The causes he believed in were nonviolence and social justice. In 1940 he was invited by Mrs. Roosevelt to have tea at the White House. He went, had tea with her, then hopped a freight train home!

He lived in interesting times. During the turbulent 1960s he was in the front lines, interacting with people like Bertrand Russell, Dr. Martin Luther King, Ho Chi Minh, and many others. After the death of A. J. Muste in 1967, Dellinger became the leader of the American peace movement. This book is action packed and rich in philosophical insights.