Overview

Rooms of Nancy Vernon Kelly's childhood home in Hollywood, California, provide scaffolding for Souls at Risk, a memoir about the roots and consequences of her writer-producer father's sudden turn to right-wing extremism. Radicalization didn't occur in a vacuum. Its grip had clear public and personal roots and consequences. The narrative pivots around a 1960 concert the author's father produced in San Diego for blacklisted folksinger Pete Seeger. When Seeger refused to sign a loyalty oath to use a public high school auditorium, the American Legion accused him of being a communist and protested to the San Diego School Board. Although the concert went on (and Kelly sang along!), the fallout continued for many years, entrenched in Cold War American-Soviet hostility. Souls at Risk weaves together the long view of a personal, public, and historical story that embodies both the disruption of extremism and the disruption of grace. While remembering the unwelcome parts of life with hateful extremism, the author also delights in the memory of experiences and people who kept her fledgling soul from completely flattening out in a turbulent time. Indeed, the sweetest touch of mercy arrived in Kelly's inbox almost fifty years after the concert.

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9781532693878

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Nancy decorates every room of her story with love and grace and awareness for the inevitably flawed and yet well-meaning people whose lives get caught up in a time of fear, division, hate, and power. She offers us a startling reminder from yesteryear for our present world where we cannot forget the past, where we cannot take for granted what liberties we enjoy, and where we need to come together with courage and voice. An inspiring, thought-provoking, and hope-filled read that will sit with you long after the last page. --Lila Read, Associate Director of Education, Waterloo Region District School Board Nancy Vernon Kelly artfully uses descriptions of her childhood home as the architecture of her story. As we move with her from room to room, we are drawn deeper into a story surrounding one particular Pete Seeger concert, but also the story of Nancy's family and of the turbulent 1960s. Today, at a time when liberties are still being challenged and people's motivations are still being scrutinized, Souls at Risk: Extremism at Home in Red Scare Hollywood reminds us of the importance of standing up and singing out for justice. --Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Nancy decorates every room of her story with love and grace and awareness for the inevitably flawed and yet well-meaning people whose lives get caught up in a time of fear, division, hate, and power. She offers us a startling reminder from yesteryear for our present world where we cannot forget the past, where we cannot take for granted what liberties we enjoy, and where we need to come together with courage and voice. An inspiring, thought-provoking, and hope-filled read that will sit with you long after the last page. --Lila Read, Associate Director of Education, Waterloo Region District School Board Nancy Vernon Kelly artfully uses descriptions of her childhood home as the architecture of her story. As we move with her from room to room, we are drawn deeper into a story surrounding one particular Pete Seeger concert, but also the story of Nancy's family and of the turbulent 1960s. Today, at a time when liberties are still being challenged and people's motivations are still being scrutinized, Souls at Risk: Extremism at Home in Red Scare Hollywood reminds us of the importance of standing up and singing out for justice. --Susan C. Johnson, National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Author Information

Nancy Vernon Kelly grew up in Hollywood, California, during the Cold War. She is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and a freelance writer. Recurrent themes in Nancy's writings include the complexity of breaking down social barriers, nurturing community, the development of conscience, and the enlargement of the soul. She and her husband Robert live in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.

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