PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Fresno, California. Beginning life as red diaper baby in a pro-labor Jewish household. My parents refused to cross picket lines. At age eight, I played in my communist uncle's back yard with Carl Bernstein. From my college days on, I seemed to be in the right place at the right time to be on the front lines of some of the major events of the 1960's. Student strikes, draft resistance, the Grape strike in California. I even helped get Eldridge Cleaver out of the country away from the FBI. I worked in important radical theatre companies for progressive change. This put me in front of the crowd but it also increased the surveillance on my activities. I was not afraid to be one of the people our parents warned us against. I was followed and informed on. My phone was tapped. I was shot at and I did some time in jail. The last time I saw my FBI file it was as thick as a small city phone book. After a career as a professional theatre designer and professor, my wife Toni and I own and run a small bookstore north of San Francisco. We use the space for workshops and public events. I talk politics with my customers all day. Visit my website at http: //JoelEis.com
"Standin' in a Hard Rain is a clear-eyed, passionate account of how your generation became activists. This fast-moving memoir shows ordinary people standing up for what's right!"" Tom Wallace, Former Senior Editor, Simon and Shuster, CEO, Wallace Literary Agency, NYC. ""Joel Eis' STANDIN' IN A HARD RAIN: The Making of a Revolutionary Life lets us experience, up close and personal, the hard choices, dangerous situations, and political dilemmas that made a significant impact in the uprising that changed America forever. Eis' book is a useful and compelling read as the nation once again tries to find its bearings."" David Harris, Organizer of the National Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War, Federal prisoner for refusing the draft, 12-time book author, Author/Correspondent, NY Times, Rolling Stone Magazine ""Joel Eis' memoir is an amazing story. Somehow, he happened to be in the right place at the right time in the sixties. It's the story of a left wing Forrest Gump, only it's real!"" Will Durst, award- winning, Nationally acclaimed comedian, Author Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle ""Joel Eis has written a clear, concise tale of active radicalism in the Bay Area in the 1960s. Absolutely free of cant, clear-eyed, and good humored, it's great to read, this tale of someone sharing radical activities at the same time. It's a great history lesson. He's an immediate new literary friend."" Peter Coyote, Actor with the SF. Mime Troupe, Author, narrator of the Ken Burns film on the Vietnam War ""Joel Eis', Standin' in a Hard Rain reminds us of the energy and times back in the day. Eis' book and life of activism in the arts illustrates how 'history is personal.' It shares a captivating tale. It's an enjoyable page-turner, a personal view into life as a radical in the 60's and since. Laurel Krause, Sister of Allison Krause, Murdered by the National Guard at Kent State, May 4, 1970 ""Joel Eis supplies authentic history, personal and political, with rigorous candor and valuable insights in ""Standin' in a Hard Rain,"" a memoir that provides concentric narratives of individual and social evolution during the pivotal decades from the 1960's forward. By writing from firsthand experience, Eis shares human dimensions that go deeply beneath the clichés and myths. The result is a book resonating with vitality."" Norman Solomon, Founder, Institute for Public Accuracy. Author of, War Made Easy, and Made Love, Got War. Standin' in a Hard Rain is an account of the life of an anti-war organizer during that time. It's spot on. Mr. Eis' book was entertaining and fun to read. It may serve as a guidebook to young people who are seeking progressive change. It's an entertaining and informative read."" Paul Dunham, Draft Resistance leader 1968-1971. Incarcerated, Lompoc Federal Prison for refusing induction"
