MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: His Life, Martyrdom and Meaning for the World

In Nonviolence: A Christian Interpretation (1964) Miller explained the practical as well as the philosophical implications. Here too, in a highly laudatory biography of King, he stresses ""effectiveness"" in relation to conscience, Starting with King's heritage his father was a militant clergyman; ""I don't care how long I have lived with this system. . . I'll oppose it to the day I die,""--Miller tells of the birth in young Martin of ""a delicate conscience verging on irrational self-blame."" Then comes the story of his schooling, his marriage, his enlistment in the Negro church, and, in 1955, his draft as leader of the headline-making Atlanta bus boycott which was the first step in a trek toward black power: ""How do we get power? By organizing ourselves."" Later, King's awareness of himself as the symbol of the freedom revolution led to increasing effort and effectiveness. Miller tells the whole story in dramatic detail including the motel room patter just prior to the assassination and lie quotes liberally from King's writings and other sources. In 1956, when Miller was managing editor of Fellowship, he published King's first article. Since then he has followed the career and the cause (and contributed to the latter). The twelve years of observation (and research) culminate in a knowing and fascinating book by an admirer who is well equipped to place King's life in perspective.