Reluctant activist : the spiritual life and art of John Howard Griffin /

Reluctant Activist is a deeply personal and spiritual biography of John Howard Griffin, the white author who darkened his skin and traveled the Deep South as an African American in 1959, then documented his harrowing journey in his explosive book Black Like Me-an exposé that brought him both fame and death threats, and made him a significant figure in the American civil rights movement. The backlash that followed the publication of Black Like Me was as enormous as it was inevitable. Griffin received so many threats that he had to relocate his family from Texas to Mexico for a period of exile. Griffin was not swayed, though, and eventually became a coveted lecturer, traveling extensively to talk about civil rights. Born in Dallas, Griffin became a Francophile as a young man and spent time studying philosophy, religion, art, music, and literature in France. During WWII, he fought with the Army Air Force in the South Pacific. When he returned to the States, his life took an artistic turn, and his writing and photography established him as an artist in his own right. Griffin lost his eyesight for a decade, and he endured periods of paralysis and crippling surgeries resulting from his diabetes. Miraculously, his vision eventually returned, but the end of his life was marked by relentless physical pain. A close friend of Thomas Merton, Griffin was a diligent Catholic who retained a reverence for the world and high standards for humanity throughout his life. Though he died in 1980, his legacy lives on through his numerous books (The Devil Rides Outside, Nuni, and Black Like Me, among others) as well as his personal Journal-a searing look into Griffin's inner struggles that shapes much of this book. As a close friend and literary executor, Bonazzi had unique access to Griffin's papers and files, and this book offers remarkable insights into both Griffin and his remarkable Black Like Me. Book jacket