EDITOR’S NOTE: Where’s Jim been?? I asked myself that question a few weeks ago and reached out into the void … nothing. Then this appeared in my inbox! With this “apology explanation” – “I’m dragging myself back. Cyrus’ “Never Give Up” convinced me. I feel bad about ghosting the world, but ‘oh well.’ Here’s a book review. I started on it August 7 and only finished it yesterday. Events have made me want to resume Civic Saturdays. (We will be bringing back Civic Saturdays – watch for more information.)
Something has shifted in my brain, I’m working on a story to talk about it. Here’s hoping I can continue my resolve. Again, I am sorry for my withdrawl.” We are so glad to have you back, Jim, and I think everyone can relate to the overwhelm of these times. This is a terrific book as we often share Robert Reich’s Substack on the Pioneer’s Facebook page. Check out https://robertreich.substack.com/
By Jim Heffernan
This is a brand new book from Robert Reich that I enjoyed as much, or more, than the other four books of his I have read. This book is a memoir and does not concentrate on particular time or theme.
It’s a collection of short breezy essays bundled in loose chronological order. I was particularly charmed by his story of being kicked out of pre-school at age 4 for being too sarcastic.
Robert Reich is a brilliant man and superb author who happens to be very short (4’ 10”). He was born with a genetic abnormality called Fairbank’s Disease that prevented his bones from growing normally. Danny DiVito grew up with the same malady.
He met Bill Clinton in 1968 when they were both Rhodes Scholars on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic. Robert was very seasick and Bill Clinton brought him chicken soup, hoping it would make him feel better. It didn’t.
The central theme of the book is Robert’s life-long opposition to bullying.
I think the greatest tragedy of our time is that bullying has become a very good way to gather votes.
I highly recommend the book. The introduction grabbed me and I didn’t stop reading until I finished the book.
Here’s an excerpt from the introduction.
“When Trump first ran as a candidate for president in 2015, I viewed him as an anomaly, a cartoon caricature of a con man trying to gain political power. He spent most of his life bullying others-=employees, contractors, vendors, women, tenants, lawyers, bankers, politicians, producers. He was and is a bully’s bully–vulgar, chaotic, angry, uninformed, impulsive, vindictive.
I have seen the harm bullies cause, and I have spent much of my life trying to stop them. I fought schoolyard toughs who teased and harassed me for being short. I was protected by a teenager who subsequently was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan for trying to register Black voters in Mississippi. I marched for civil rights, protested the Vietnam War, and worked to elect Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy, the antiwar candidate for president in 1968. I interned for Bobby Kennedy, argued two Supreme Court cases, and advised at the Federal Trade Commission. As labor secretary to Bill Clinton, I tried to protect workers who were bullied by employers. When I ran for governor of Massachusetts, I became the first candidate for major office in America to endorse gay marriage. I taught several generations of students at Harvard, Brandeis, and Berkeley, and wrote a bunch of books.
I always believed America was not a nation of bullies. We protected the vulnerable, comforted the afflicted, gave refuge to those fleeing violence and persecution, and gave voice to those who otherwise would not be heard. I found these ideals in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Emma Lazarus’s poem affixed to the Statue of Liberty, FDR’s second inaugural address, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “free at last” sermon at the 1963 March on Washington. My parents and grandparents espoused these ideals and my teachers expounded them, connecting me with previous generations of Americans and the sacrifices they endured to preserve our democracy and achieve a greater good. We did not always live up to these ideals, of course, but through most of my life they continued to guide the nation. I cherished these ideals and hoped to pass them on.”
Available at Cloud and Leaf Bookstore, Manzanita and Tillamook County Public Library. Published Aug. 5, 2025, 570 pages (includes 160 pages of acknowledgments, notes and index)
As always, discussion welcome at codger817@gmail.com