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SHEPHERD OF THE STREETS by John Ehle

SHEPHERD OF THE STREETS

By

Pub Date: March 30th, 1960
Publisher: Morrow-Sloane

Headlines in the press introduced an Episcopalian priest, the Rev. James A. Gunsweller, to the American public. The occasion was the work he was doing in the New York City area known as ""the jungle"". Here were the concentrated evils of urban life, as newcomers from Puerto Rico took over. Father Gusweller's first three years compassed many of the situations that arose:- the stories of the adjustment of Puerto Ricans, especially young people, to life in New York and life in the Church; stories of avaricious landlords and the crusade against them; stories of frail and vicious people- and some that are tragic and some humorous- such are samples of what is experienced. A young and ambitious minister emerges, though this is the story of his ministry rather than the man himself. The abruptness of the conclusion clearly suggests that the ministry and the crusade are not over, and one is left with the feeling that this account is premature. Perhaps had it been told in the first person- as was Father Myers' story in Light the Dark Streets (Seabury)- it might have warranted the sense of immediacy and urgency which one associates with crusades such as the one somewhat fragmentarily presented here.