ISBN: 0-88739-297-0
352 pp.
Size: 8 x 10
Pub Date: 11/2001
Paperback Reprint
Price: $30.00
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Grass Roots: From Prairie to Politics
The Autobiography of Alice Sachs Hamburg
Alice Sachs Hamburg
The daughter of immigrant Russian Jews, Alice Sachs Hamburg was raised in a small town in North Dakota. Becoming active early in left-wing politics, she campaigned for Progressive Party presidential candidate Henry Wallace. She was subpoenaed by the California State Committee on Un-American Activities, and has numbered among her associates Martin Luther King, Jr., Linus Pauling, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, Jane Fonda, and Tom Hayden. Hamburg, now in her nineties, still keeps up with an activist agenda.
By 1971 the movement was joined in larger numbers by religious groups, and meetings were held in churches and synagogues. Thus, we encountered the enigmatic Jim Jones of People's Temple...This was my first encounter with Jones' growing paranoia, which he would eventually direct at his own followers.
Feeling against the Hollywood Ten ran so high, we were unable to rent a hall anywhere in Berkeley, and convened in Oakland at the Fellowship of Humanity...Among those I met at that time were Howard Fast, a well-known writer...Gail Sondergaard, an award-winning actress and wife of blacklisted writer Herbert Biberman, stayed with me a number of times.
Review: "Ms. Hamburg has been a tireless advocate on behalf of a cause that I hold close to my heart. She has been an important supporter and colleague on these issues, and I am indebted to her leadership, tireless energy and deep-seated commitment to... peace and disarmament."
-Rep. Ronald Dellums, Congressional Record, February 25, 1997
"If a prophet is a person who stands by, and with, and for the poor, Alice Sachs Hamburg is a prophet for our times, and it's this grace of hers that makes her autobiography, Grass Roots, holy scripture."
-Fr. Bill O'Donnell, Saint Joseph the Worker Church, Berkeley, California
"Grass Roots is full of fascinating stories from a diverse group of daring women who started a peace movement and channeled their ideas into social action coalitions and local, state, and national politics. A must read for progressive activists."
-Rep. Barbara Lee
"In her introduction, Alice writes: 'Life for ordinary people has changed more during my lifetime than during the entirety of prior history.' She then shows us exactly how true that is, from hardscrabble early life homesteading in North Dakota to more pioneering in the San Joaquin valley as a young bride, and to her later pioneering in the larger world of the peace movement. Reading her book is to read American history written by someone who helped make it."
-Pat Cody, Founder of Cody's Books
"I have often looked at Alice Hamburg and wished I were part of her family. She exudes a rare combination of political passion and personal warmth. You want to be around her, learn from her, soak up her strength. You want to imbibe her zest for life, her sense of empowerment to right the world's wrongs. Now, through her autobiography, we can all be part of Alice's family. What a treat!"
-Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder, Co-Director, Global Exchange
Bio: ALICE SACHS HAMBURG has been active in Women (Strike) For Peace, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, and has long been involved with Berkeley's free speech radio station KPFA.
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