“Radical Chapters: How Pacifist Roy Kepler Changed the World”
Popular Reading Room, McCabe Library, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Thursday, October 25, 2012
Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park, CA was long the hub of literary bohemians, counterculture musicians, and those in search of a good read. It was one of the most influential, independent bookstores in the history of America, and created a community space which particularly fed the minds of young beatniks like Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, and Willie Legate. The store’s owner, Roy Kepler, was a radical pacifist, World War II conscientious objector, anti-nuclear activist, influential member of the War Resisters League, protester against the war in Vietnam, and a pioneer in promoting the “paperback revolution” in the middle of the twentieth century.
Speaker Michael Doyle is the author of Radical Chapters: Pacifist Bookseller Roy Kepler and the Paperback Revolution. Using resources from the Swarthmore College Peace Collection and other sources he will speak about Kepler and his decades-long fight for social justice, the independent bookstore movement, and creating a vibrant community. Doyle is a reporter in the Washington, DC, bureau of the McClatchy newspaper chain. He holds a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University and a master of studies in law from Yale Law School, where he was a Knight Journalism Fellow.
Reception to follow talk.
Open to the public
