conscientious objectors – I Ain't Marching Anymore

Conscientious objection is the thing with feathers.

The one common denominator is hope. Whether one defines hope as an emotion, an action or a muscle, people embark on conscientious objection to create a better future.

Notes toward an introduction

July 2020: As the book approaches publication WITHOUT an introduction, I decided to repost this from ten years ago, when it was still under the aegis of UC Press and Chelsea Manning was still imprisoned at Quantico. The book evolved as well, but the themes below whisper from between its pages. It’s been a long timeContinue reading “Notes toward an introduction”

96-year-old outtake: fort leavenworth goes on strike

Long after the Armistice was signed in November 1918, open rebellions continued to startle military authorities, including the conglomeration of deserters, CO’s and malcontents that stuffed the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in 1918.

“under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country”

“Hollywood’s conscientious objector.” The subtitle wrote itself.

I’ve been reading a lot of biographies of late. These days, most are marvels of narrative nonfiction. I just finished Jean Harvey Baker’s work on Mary Todd Lincoln, (via Michelle Dean at the New Yorker), which taught me that the much-reviled First Lady was less a loon than a feminist that coulda been. And sometimes Continue reading ““Hollywood’s conscientious objector.” The subtitle wrote itself.”

Quakers in uniform: oxymoron, or profound truth?

I spend so much time celebrating the courage of soldiers that some might wonder where the old peacenik had got to. (If some old classmate from Binghamton stumbled here, e.g., what they might remember most is my play Too Many Martyrs, a melodrama about the U.S.-to-Canada draft resister underground railroad.) But as I construct myContinue reading “Quakers in uniform: oxymoron, or profound truth?”