e would puff clouds of pungent dope, consign the smoke to the breeze, and the magical zephyrs would stone out the world to a blissfulness that would be peace."
It sounds more like the manifesto of some fringe cult than the prose of a reputable attorney. But so begins a new book by San Francisco trial lawyer Barry Willdorf based upon many of his experiences in the '60s and '70s.
Bring the War Home is not a collection of hash-addled adventures and hijinks set to a Donovan soundtrack, though. It's the serious story of a group of people who defended anti-war Marines. The narrator, Eric, is an activist-cum-attorney representing soldiers who have been court-martialed for opposing the Vietnam war.
While the story is written as a novel rather than a memoir, it has a lot in common with the author's own past.
Willdorf graduated from Columbia Law School in 1969. Already involved in the anti-war movement, he decided to apply his newfound legal skills toward the cause. With the help of a grant from a civil rights organization, Willdorf and his wife moved to Southern California's Camp Pendleton. There, he acted as civilian counsel defending active-duty GIs in the military justice system.
The cases involved African-American soldiers who were victims of racial discrimination, or who were having problems because of their opposition to the war.
"We had a war conflict and a race conflict in the military," says Willdorf. "And an awakening of a lot of people who had gone to Vietnam that it wasn't what they expected."
In the 20-some years since the Vietnam war ended, Willdorf has transitioned his life and practice towards civilian affairs. The Massachusetts native is currently of counsel at San Francisco's Titchell, Maltzman, Mark and Ohleyer, where he focuses on employment discrimination and real estate cases.
About seven years ago, Willdorf started writing Bring the War Home. It was important to get the message out that there were progressive leftists who didn't fall into the stereotype of spitting on soldiers and demeaning them, he says.
While much of it is based on his own experiences, he notes that he was not afraid to stretch the truth in order to keep things interesting. "I wanted to write a political novel," he says. "I didn't want to just do this lawyer book of my greatest cases."
In addition to actually writing the 268-page novel, Willdorf had to get it published. The story didn't fit neatly into any of the genres that publishers are accustomed to marketing, says Willdorf, so he and his wife started A Gauche Press.
The company cranked out a first run of 500 copies to coincide with Veteran's Day in November, which it's selling directly through its Web site and on Amazon.com. News of the book has spread through e-mail lists devoted to veterans, anti-war activists and academics. Willdorf says a college professor even bought multiple copies of the book for a class.
"It takes a lot of money to publish a book and it takes a lot of work. But I always wanted to do some publishing," says Willdorf. Besides, he adds, "it's adding a little spice."
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