MARCHING NOWHERE

by Ken Hurwitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 1971

Hurwitz was a Harvard Junior caught in ""that great guilt-corroded limbo between liberalism and radicalism"" but he knew he wanted to do something to end the war. And so, in the spring of '69 he became Campus Coordinator for the Moratorium Committee and organized and proselytized and distributed leaflets and made many phone calls and gave press conferences and attended an NSA convention and politicked with the ""Trots"" in New Mobe from Washington to El Paso to Cambridge and back again riding the peace wave to the crest of euphoria on October 15th. And the great day came and it was ""Easter, Yom Kippur, and Bastille Day all rolled into one"" and for one sunlit moment on the Boston Common it seemed like ""the whole nation was finally stirring from its sleepy acceptance of the nightmare of Vietnam."" Yes, but it lasted only a moment and by November winter and disillusionment had set in and the Gallup poll showed the nation 77% behind Nixon. Then in April a half-hearted attempt to resurrect the old elan ended with rocks and arson and billy-clubs flaying in Harvard Square and poor old Ken, idealistic and young, felt only frustration and benumbed despair. He tells it like it was from exuberant self-importance to the limp 'sadder-but-wiser' aftermath and adds that he's still in there plugging away, trying to ""educate"" the Silent Majority. It's meant to be a story for our times, with Ken just an ordinary, sensitive schlump foundering on the shoals of maturity. Many of his classmates will no doubt empathize with his confused good intentions but we found him a little wet behind the ears.

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION