My River
Home, Marcus Eriksen, cloth, April 2007, $24.95, 978-0-8070-7275-2
“All politicians considering war as a policy tool—especially those
with no personal military experience—should read this book, and take
special note of Marcus Eriksen's epiphany as he wandered with his brother
amongst Iraqi corpses during the Gulf War. ‘I'm glad it wasn't us,’
says his brother. Eriksen, with the added perspective of the current Iraq
War, finds devastating precision for his response: ‘But it was.’
The futility and tragedy of war is made agonizingly clear by the inspirational
journeys recounted with searing elegance in My River Home.” —Peter
Laufer, author of Mission Rejected: U. S. Soldiers Say No to Iraq
"Christopher Finan has given us a marvelously readable account of the
struggle for free speech in the United States. Beginning with the birth of
the American civil liberties movement during World War I, Finan traces the
often grueling battles over free speech in wartime, book censorhip, McCarthyism,
and freedom of the press that have marked the gradual evolution of American
freedom. It is a story every American should know, for it is our nation's
greatest achievement." —Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous
Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on
Terrorism
Courting
Equality, Patricia A. Gozemba and Karen Kahn, cloth, May 2007,
$34.95, 978-0-8070-6620-1
“Courting Equality is a remarkable chronicle of exactly how
social change happens. Marilyn Humpries’vivid photographic documentation
of the fight for same-sex marriage hardly needs any elaboration, but Kahn’s
and Gozemba’s accompanying legal history is riveting. Words and pictures
together create a moving, human portrait of representative democracy at work.”
—Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home and Dykes to Watch Out
For
“In Courting Equality, Marilyn Humphries’ stunning photos
show both what the struggle for equality looks like and what it feels like.
She has been there every step of the way as this history has unfolded. She,
Patricia Gozemba, and Karen Kahn have documented an important piece of American
history and our national project of expanding fairness and ending discrimination.
The more people get to know gay people, the more they support us, our families,
and our rights. This book shows how some of our own legislators and fellow
citizens got to know us and their journey to embracing fairness. Courting
Equality will help others make that journey.” —Mary L. Bonauto,
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lead counsel, Goodridge v.
Department of Public Health
“Courting Equality offers timely and vivid testimony to the
power of commitment. Gozemba and Kahn take great care in tracing the complex
legal and legislative processes that resulted in the first legal same-sex
weddings. These fascinating behind-the-scenes stories are valuable reminders
that the profound historic events surrounding the Goodridge case were played
out on an intimate, human scale, in the lives of real families. Marilyn Humphries’
photographs are a gift to us all. They provide moving and eloquent documentation
of each stage in the struggle to end discrimination in the Massachusetts marriage
statutes. Courting Equality bears witness to the determination, the
love, and, ultimately, the jubilation of thousands of ordinary people who
believed in an extraordinary dream.” —Rev. William G. Sinkford,
President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Beacon Press is a department of the