Contact: Robert Shetterly, 207-326-8459 (robert@americanswhotellthetruth.org)
“Americans Who Tell the Truth” is excited to announce a public event to honor Bob Koehler with an unveiling of Robert Shetterly’s new portrait of him at the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington, Chicago, on June 16, from 2 pm to 4 pm.
Long-time, award-winning Chicago writer Bob Koehler describes himself as a peace journalist: a journalist who believes in tearing back the status quo and reporting the complex—the human—story behind the news. To a peace journalist, love is complex and violence is simplistic, and it is the journalist’s duty to report a story in its complexity, to look for the path toward healing in every conflict. He calls his columns prayers described as op-eds.
On his website, commonwonders.com, he writes: “Nonviolent response to conflict is, simply put, the foundation of civilization, is it not? Conflict — between and among people, between species, with our planet and universe — is inevitable. Violent response belittles the conflict, shatters the complexity, perpetuates the problem, endangers the innocent and often blows up in our faces. But violence is an industry, shrouded in mythology and consensus. Working to undo the mythology of violence is the most responsible act a writer can commit. We can’t dehumanize others without doing the same to ourselves.”
He has devoted his career—forty-plus years as a reporter, editor, syndicated columnist and teacher—to empowering readers and students alike, to find their voices, to participate in the creative process of social evolution, which begins with speaking and writing the truth.
The “Americans Who Tell the Truth+ portraits, now numbering over 235, travel to schools, colleges, museums, churches and libraries all over the United States to promote engaged and courageous citizenship. “Bob Koehler’s portrait will be a great addition to this project,” Shetterly says. “I know of no greater contemporary writer and no greater source of wisdom for how we must think of ourselves in relation to one another and to the future if we want to survive in a healthy and humane way on this planet. Bob Koehler is surely guilty of that most responsible act a writer can commit—compassionate, courageous, peace-loving sanity.”
At the unveiling Robert Shetterly will introduce Bob and together they will unveil the portrait ,and then Bob will speak.
Please visit http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org to get an idea of the scope of this project, and to see the company of portraits Bob Koehler will be joining.
Bill Ayers 