INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER 2018 ILLUMINATION AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER (BIOGRAPHY)
Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016), a Jesuit priest and poet, was one of the preeminent Christian peacemakers of his time. After gaining notoriety in 1968 through his role, along with his brother Philip, in destroying Vietnam-era draft files as part of the Catonsville 9, he helped elevate the Christian conscience with regard to issues of war and violence. Resistance to the Vietnam War was followed by decades of protest against nuclear weapons, including his participation in the first "Plowshares" action, the symbolical disarming of nuclear warheads.
But Berrigan's efforts on behalf of life also involved care for the dying and ministry to those suffering from AIDS. Jim Forest, who worked with Berrigan in building the Catholic Peace Fellowship in the 1960s, draws on his deep friendship over five decades to provide the most comprehensive and intimate picture yet available of this modern-day prophet. Extensive photographs and quotations from Berrigan's writings complete the portrait.
