To see if nonviolence could be taught, in 1982 Colman Mc Carthy became a volunteer teacher at one of the poorest high schools in Washington, DC. In the thirty-two years since then, he has taught peace studies courses for more than ten thousand college and high school students. Large numbers of those students have faithfully kept in touch with Mc Carthy, often with handwritten letters, and he has answered them with the same seriousness he brought to his columns and books. The exchanges rise to a rare kind of literature that blends personal warmth, intellectual honesty, and shared idealism.
The discussions range from peace and war to a host of other issues of social justice, such as the death penalty, human rights, poverty, the living wage, animal rights, and vegetarianism. The wide-ranging letters suggest how teacher and students co-create a world of more love and less hate.
Circa l’autore
Colman Mc Carthy, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post for nearly thirty years, is the cofounder and director of The Center for Teaching Peace. He is the author of seven previous books and editor of three. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Nation, The Progressive, The New Republic, The Atlantic, and National Catholic Reporter.