New MARIE EQUI review from James Anderson

"As an undergraduate at Reed College I suffered from the same affliction I suffer from at 63: I am interested in EVERYTHING, which explains why my degree was interdisciplinary. (Smile) Then, as now, all paths are intertwined. I mentioned and praised my next selection four or five months ago when it was first released: MARIE EQUI: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions (Oregon State University Press). Few will have heard of Marie Equi, the lesbian feminist physician who was a soldier in the fight for the oppressed, all the oppressed, workers, women's reproductive rights.

Author Michael Helquist has written a stirring biography/history that is meticulously researched, passionately and eloquently rendered and is just a great read. Though this book is often, too often I think, mentioned in connection with Portland and the Pacific Northwest, Equi’s work and struggle in the face of violence, imprisonment and persecution transcends locale. Helquist does an amazing job of placing Equi not just in history, but in the center and front of what appears, especially these days, to be the ongoing and uphill battle for human dignity and social justice. Since first reading this wonderful book the rave reviews and critical notices have continued and even gained momentum. Recently it was named a STONEWALL HONOR BOOK by the American Library Association."

(Originally posted on Facebook, January 30, 2016. During each day of January, James Anderson, author of "The Never-Opened Desert Diner," offered first-come-first-served free copies of his favorite books of 2015. Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions was his final selection in this generous give-away.)