Friday, May 29 at 12:00 pm
Visiting author Louise Bruyn discusses her book She Walked for All of Us: One Woman’s 1971 Protest against an Illegal
War. Bruyn will talk
about the walk that she chronicled in her book and read from her work. This is
a free event.
In 1971, America had been at war in Vietnam for almost
six years. The death toll was rising, both for the United States and North Vietnam.
Louise Bruyn, a wife and a mother of three teenage children, said, “Someone
should walk to Washington to tell the government to stop this war!” And that is
exactly what Bruyn did. With only 12 days to decide and prepare, Bruyn alone walked
for 45 days and 450 miles from her home in Newton, Massachusetts, to
Washington, DC, to tell Congress and the President they must stop this war. On
April 2, Massachusetts’ Senator Ted Kennedy and Representative Robert Drinan
met her on the Capitol steps. Her walk captured national attention. People all
over the country rallied to support her. Over and over, they told Bruyn, “You
are walking for me.”
Midwest Book Review found the book to be “deftly written,
personally candid, often insightful, occasionally inspiring, always engaging. She
Walked for All of Us, One Woman's197l Protest Against an Illegal War is an
iconic read and highly recommended for anyone who has ever aspired to protest
against a perceived social or governmental injustice. [It] would make an
enduringly important addition to community and college library social activism
and 20th century American biography collections.”