Alan Wieder

Studs Terkel was an American icon who had no use for America's cult of celebrity. He was a leftist who valued human beings over political dogma. In scores of books and thousands of radio and television broadcasts, Studs paid attention - and respect - to "ordinary" human beings of all classes and colours, as they talked about their lives as workers, dreamers, survivors. Alan Wieder's Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation is the first comprehensive book about this man. Drawing from over fifty interviews of people who knew and worked with Studs, Alan Wieder creates a multi-dimensional portrait of a run-of-the-mill guy from Chicago who, in public life, became an acclaimed author and raconteur, while managing, in his private life, to remain a mensch. We see Studs, the eminent oral historian, the inveterate and selfless supporter of radical causes, especially civil rights. We see the actor, the writer, the radio host, the jazz lover, whose early work in television earned him a notorious place on the McCarthy blacklist. We also see Studs the family man and devoted husband to his adored wife, Ida. Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation allows us to realize the importance of reaching through our own daily realities - increasingly clogged with disembodied, impersonal interaction - to find value in actual face-time with real humans. Wieder's book also shows us why such contact might be crucial to those of us in movements rising up against global tyranny and injustice. The book is simply the best introduction available to this remarkable man. Reading it will lead people to Terkel's enormous body of work, with benefits they will cherish thr

Studs Terkel was an American icon who had no use for America's cult of celebrity. He was a leftist who valued human beings over political dogma. In scores of books and thousands of radio and television broadcasts, Studs paid attention - and respect - to "ordinary" human beings of all classes and colours, as they talked about their lives as workers, dreamers, survivors. Alan Wieder's Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation is the first comprehensive book about this man. Drawing from over fifty interviews of people who knew and worked with Studs, Alan Wieder creates a multi-dimensional portrait of a run-of-the-mill guy from Chicago who, in public life, became an acclaimed author and raconteur, while managing, in his private life, to remain a mensch. We see Studs, the eminent oral historian, the inveterate and selfless supporter of radical causes, especially civil rights. We see the actor, the writer, the radio host, the jazz lover, whose early work in television earned him a notorious place on the McCarthy blacklist. We also see Studs the family man and devoted husband to his adored wife, Ida. Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation allows us to realize the importance of reaching through our own daily realities - increasingly clogged with disembodied, impersonal interaction - to find value in actual face-time with real humans. Wieder's book also shows us why such contact might be crucial to those of us in movements rising up against global tyranny and injustice. The book is simply the best introduction available to this remarkable man. Reading it will lead people to Terkel's enormous body of work, with benefits they will cherish throughout their lives.

“This is the story of a Portland park and a community that refuses to be “removed.” In spite of being displaced, this community survives. Birthdays are celebrated, tragedy is commemorated, and, most important, people who grew up in the neighborhood, as well as their offspring, connect in the park each day. I’ve been privileged to try to capture their spirit through pictures for almost five years. Individuals have welcomed me into their lives.” —Alan Wieder, from the Introduction During the latter half of the twentieth century, sections of North and Northeast Portland experienced significant gentrification. Many people—predominantly the Black population, whose families had lived there for generations—were pushed out of their neighborhoods to distant corners of the city. Despite such dislocations, some refused to give up their connection to what had historically been their neighborhood park. They travel back to the neighborhood daily to spend time at a park that has come to represent family and community. From 2020 to 2024 Alan Wieder visited the King School Park almost every day, photographing and interviewing the individuals who regularly frequent the park. We Will Not Be Removed documents this community, which, against all odds, continues to persevere. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Mitchell Jackson, who grew up in the King Park neighborhood, pens the foreword, providing a sense of how these blocks in North Portland mattered to those who lived there. With poignant quotations captured from the interviews and Wieder’s seventy black-and-white photographs, We Will Not Be Removed is a powerful testimony to the lasting bonds of community.

We need a bold new brand of teacher leadership that will create opportunities for teachers to practice, share, and grow their knowledge and expertise. This book is about "teacherpreneurs"—highly accomplished classroom teachers who blur the lines of distinction between those who teach in schools and those who lead them. These teacherpreneurs embody the concept that teachers can teach as well as lead the transformation of teaching and learning. It’s about empowering expert teachers who can buoy the image of teaching and enforce standards among their ranks while all along making sure that their colleagues as well as education policymakers and the public know what works best for students. The book follows a small group of teacherpreneurs in their first year. We join their journey toward becoming teacher leaders whose work is not defined by administrative fiat, but by their knowledge of students and drive to influence policies that allow them and their colleagues to teach more effectively. The authors trace the teacherpreneurs' steps—and their own—in the effort to determine what it means to define and execute the concept of "teacherpreneurism" in the face of tough demands and resistant organizational structures.

Ruth First and Joe Slovo, husband and wife, were leaders of thewar to end apartheid in South Africa. Communists, scholars, parents, and uncompromising militants, they were the perfect enemiesfor the white police state. Together they were swept up in thegrowing resistance to apartheid, and together they experiencedrepression and exile. Their contributions to the liberation struggle, as individuals and as a couple, are undeniable. Ruth agitatedtirelessly for the overthrow of apartheid, first in South Africa andthen from abroad, and Joe directed much of the armed strugglecarried out by the famous Umkhonto we Sizwe. Only one of them, however, would survive to see the fall of the old regime and thefounding of a new, democratic South Africa.This book, the first extended biography of Ruth First and JoeSlovo, is a remarkable account of one couple and the revolutionarymoment in which they lived. Alan Wieder's deeply researchedwork draws on the usual primary and secondary sources but alsoan extensive oral history that he has collected over many years.By weaving the documentary record together with personal interviews, Wieder portrays the complexities and contradictions of thisextraordinary couple and their efforts to navigate a time of greattension, upheaval, and revolutionary hope.

Ruth First and Joe Slovo, husband and wife, were leaders of thewar to end apartheid in South Africa. Communists, scholars, parents, and uncompromising militants, they were the perfect enemiesfor the white police state. Together they were swept up in thegrowing resistance to apartheid, and together they experiencedrepression and exile. Their contributions to the liberation struggle, as individuals and as a couple, are undeniable. Ruth agitatedtirelessly for the overthrow of apartheid, first in South Africa andthen from abroad, and Joe directed much of the armed strugglecarried out by the famous Umkhonto we Sizwe. Only one of them, however, would survive to see the fall of the old regime and thefounding of a new, democratic South Africa.This book, the first extended biography of Ruth First and JoeSlovo, is a remarkable account of one couple and the revolutionarymoment in which they lived. Alan Wieder's deeply researchedwork draws on the usual primary and secondary sources but alsoan extensive oral history that he has collected over many years.By weaving the documentary record together with personal interviews, Wieder portrays the complexities and contradictions of thisextraordinary couple and their efforts to navigate a time of greattension, upheaval, and revolutionary hope.

This book captures the oral histories of twenty South African teachers who connected pedagogy and politics to fight against the apartheid regime. Teaching in so-called Coloured schools, these -teachers with the fighting spirit- stressed nonracialism and democracy in their work with students. Though their lives were deeply affected by apartheid, it never stole their hearts, minds, or souls. Their work helped lead to the election of Nelson Mandela as the first democratic leader of South Africa in 1994."

The relationship between race and education continues as a major issue in American Society. This book, which includes Alan Wieder's work over the last twenty years, addresses issues like racism, racial bigotry, and racial inequality in both school and society in the United States. Special attention is given to school integration, racism in education, race and textbooks, and Afrocentrism. The book includes three different types of essay - narratives, oral histories, and photo essays - that each provide different lenses to study white racism and education.

^R Explores the educational and societal experiences of the 20th century American immigrant by using the situation of the Jewish immigrant as a case study. Approaches such questions as: Did the schools promote or hinder immigrants' quest for the American Dream? Was, and is, the melting pot a myth or reality? and, Are there prices to pay for the American Dream?