NEW ENGLAND LITERARY NEWS
A book about non-violence, a new collection of writing about recovery and addition, and the return of a music-and-literature event series
By Nina MacLaughlin Globe Correspondent,Updated July 8, 2021, 6:16 p.m.
A history of non-violence
In 1922, at age 37, a Chicago labor lawyer named Richard Gregg was introduced to the work of Gandhi, and it changed the trajectory of his life, steering him to “rethink how conflict could be resolved and how injustice might be fought.” Gregg traveled to India to study with Gandhi, one of the first Americans to do so, and wrote “The Power of Non-Violence,” the primer on how to protest peacefully which influenced a generation of activists including Martin Luther King, Jr. A thoughtful, illuminating, and accessible new biography, “The Power of Non-Violence: The Enduring Legacy of Richard Gregg” (Loom Press) by UMass Lowell political science professor emeritus John Wooding, shines light on Gregg’s life and work, calling Gregg’s book “one of the most important works on pacifism of the twentieth century.” Wooding braids in stories of his father, finding his research on Gregg serves as a map to better understanding his dad. Gregg lived by a philosophy of “voluntary simplicity,” and the importance of sustainability and environmental stewardship, and this biography arrives at a time when we are well-served to be reminded of Gregg’s insights and example.
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