Dreadful Conversions: The Making of a Catholic Socialist - Hardcover

Cort, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 082322256X ISBN 13: 9780823222568

Publisher: Fordham University Press, 2003

Synopsis

For more than 50 years, John Cort has been at the center of most of the social movements of our time. Writer, reporter, teacher, activist, Cort has spent his life fighting good fights, whether on a Boston newspaper, with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, as a labor leader, or in dozens of campaigns for justice, peace and human rights. Here is John Cort's story--the measure of an exemplary life and a vivid, personal chronicle of American radicalism across virtually every major struggle. At its heart, this is also the story of what it means to take seriously the distinctively radical Catholic vision that informs American political and religious life in this century. It started in 1935, when Cort converted to Catholicism as a Harvard undergraduate. A year later, he was in New York City on the staff of the Catholic Worker, working with such legendary figures as Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Plunged into the class wars of the Depression, Cort began a 20-year commitment to organizing workers, notably through the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists. Later, Cort served many social action causes while continuing to teach, report, and write. Whether running a model Cities program, a newspaper guild, or a homeless shelter, or as a delegate to a world apostolic congress, Cort brought to life in his radicalism and his socialism the teachings of Catholic activism embodied most vividly by Dorothy Day and John XIII. Desperate Conversions is a unique primer in Catholic social theory, told in the chapters of John Cort's own life. Quirky, personal, distinctive, his memoir captures one of the great stories of our American century--and tells it in a voice no one can forget.

About this title

Review

...Cort's life story and the values that have sustained him are more important now than ever.----Bruce Nelson "America "

The presentation is in a thoughtful but breezy style that makes you want to get through to the rest of the book.----Sun Chronicle

"Dreadful Conversions is a must-read for anyone interested in twentieth-century social Catholicism. From the cover of the book-which features Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and young Cort-to its end- a spiritied bibliographic essay on the ACTU-it is a delight; it is pure John Cort. He has lived a wonderful, pationate, and faith-filled life.----Catholic Historical Review

Dreadful Conversions is an invaluable resource for students of twentieth-century American Catholicism.----Religious Studies Review

John Court's memoir is, like himself, brilliant, truthful, insightful, hilarious, grace-and faith-filled, a joy...Thanks to Fordham University Press for recognizing its unique value.----The Catholic Worker

Dreadful Conversions chronicles a lifetime of uphill battles, but Cort shows little sign of letting up.----Harvard Magazine

About the Author

John C. Cort, born in 1912, grew up on Long Island, NY. A widely published author. His Christian Socialism: An Informal History is acclaimed as the definitive account. The father of ten children and 14 grandchildren, he lives with his wife Helen Haye Cort in Nahant, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 082322256X
• ISBN 13: 9780823222568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 355