“A fascinating portrait of activism deepened and sustained by Herculean labors of research and investigation.”—The Nation
Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues, McWilliams was also one of the nation's most versatile and productive public intellectuals of his time.
Richardson's absorbing and elegant biography traces McWilliams's extraordinary life and career. Drawing from a wide range of sources, it explores his childhood on a Colorado cattle ranch, his early literary journalism in Los Angeles, his remarkable legal and political activism, his stint in state government, the explosion of first-rate books between 1939 and 1950, and his editorial leadership at The Nation. Along the way, it also documents McWilliams's influence on a wide range of key figures, including Cesar Chavez, Hunter S. Thompson, Mike Davis, screenwriter Robert Towne, playwright Luis Valdez, and historian Patricia Limerick.
American Prophet The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams, with a Foreword by Mike Davis
About the Book
Reviews
"The late Carey McWilliams helped educate a generation of journalists and readers on subjects ranging from the Mexican-American border, the political culture of California, the underlying meaning and mechanism of the so-called McCarthy era, the mass media, the small circulation magazine of opinion and much, much more. His contribution to and influence on journalism in these United States is vastly underrated, and Peter Richardson's study does much to fill in the gaps on McWilliams's remarkable life and record."—Victor Navasky, publisher, The Nation"For history and social commentary, Carey McWilliams is an acknowledged master. Now the master has a biography worthy of his achievement."—Kevin Starr, University Professor & Professor of History, University of Southern California
"American Prophet should be required reading at journalism schools, in newsrooms and numerous college courses. It will inspire and instruct in the real mission of the press."—Ambassador Derek Shearer, Chevalier Professor, Occidental College
Table of Contents
Foreword by Mike Davis
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 COLORADO
The Collapse
Chapter 2 INFINITE REVOLT
Life at the Times H. L. Mencken Law & Literature George Sterling
Provincial Life Mary Austin Making the Scene in Los Angeles
Dorothy Hedrick The Bierce Biography
Chapter 3 THE POLITICAL TURN
The Seeds of Activism The Great Depression Louis Adamic & Shadow-
America The “Anti-Fascist Phase” Labor Organizing Factories
in the Field
Chapter 4 PUBLIC SERVICE
The Writer as Bureaucrat Prelude to an Inquisition The War and
Japanese Internment Brothers Under the Skin Sleepy Lagoon
The Zoot Suit Riots The Tenney Committee
Once More the Japanese Evacuation
Chapter 5 THE GREAT EXCEPTION
An Island on the Land The Campaign Continues Brothers Under the
Skin—The Sequels The California Culmination A Savage and
Depressing Year Witch Hunt Surveillance & Its Discontents
Chapter 6 THE VILE DECADE
The Nation at War Leaving Los Angeles The Cold War Casualties
Defending Civil Liberties The Fall of McCarthy Carey McWilliams, Editor
Civil Rights Redux Curtain Calls in California
Chapter 7 THE AGE OF NIXON
Watching the Republicans The New Generation Back at the Ranch
Before the Revolution The New Left Vietnam The New Nixon
Living in the Ruins Summing Up
Chapter 8 MOVING ON
After the Nation The Reluctant Hero Illness
The Education of Carey McWilliams Back in California
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index