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Visiting author Louise Bruyn

Friday, May 29 at 12:00 pm

Visiting author Louise Bruyn discusses her book She Walked for All of Us: One Woman’s 1971 Protest against an Illegal War. Bruyn will talk about the walk that she chronicled in her book and read from her work. This is a free event.

In 1971, America had been at war in Vietnam for almost six years. The death toll was rising, both for the United States and North Vietnam. Louise Bruyn, a wife and a mother of three teenage children, said, “Someone should walk to Washington to tell the government to stop this war!” And that is exactly what Bruyn did. With only 12 days to decide and prepare, Bruyn alone walked for 45 days and 450 miles from her home in Newton, Massachusetts, to Washington, DC, to tell Congress and the President they must stop this war. On April 2, Massachusetts’ Senator Ted Kennedy and Representative Robert Drinan met her on the Capitol steps. Her walk captured national attention. People all over the country rallied to support her. Over and over, they told Bruyn, “You are walking for me.”

Midwest Book Review found the book to bedeftly written, personally candid, often insightful, occasionally inspiring, always engaging. She Walked for All of Us, One Woman's197l Protest Against an Illegal War is an iconic read and highly recommended for anyone who has ever aspired to protest against a perceived social or governmental injustice. [It] would make an enduringly important addition to community and college library social activism and 20th century American biography collections.”