New Anti-war Book with Discussion of Catholic Worker -

[Catholic Worker]

Via Amanda Daloisio - New Anti-war Book with Discussion of Catholic Worker 

We’re delighted to announce the publication of a new book by New School professor and longtime Witness Against Torture member Jeremy Varon. It is Our Grief is Not a Cry for War: The Movement to Stop the War on Terror (University of Chicago Press). See: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo254664321.html

The book is the first comprehensive history of protest against America’s post-9/11 wars and its global torture program. It discusses at length the activism of Catholic Workers throughout the country, including communities in Baltimore, Des Moines, Duluth, Hartford, Ithaca, New Haven, New York City, Norfolk, Raleigh and Washington, D.C.  The book profiles the formation of Witness Against Torture, 2005 trip to Guantanamo, Cuba; direct actions in Washington, D.C.; and the 2007 protest at the North Carolina headquarters of the mercenary company Blackwater, Inc., following the massacre of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square. 

The book is a great way to learn about an important era in the Catholic Worker’s long history of peacemaking. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! calls the it “a deep and essential account of the global antiwar movement.”  Frida Berrigan just published this lovely review of the book in Waging Nonviolence: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/lessons-from-movement-to-stop-war-on-terror/

The author, Jeremy Varon, can be reached directly at: jva...@aol.com

On Oct 31, 2025, at 11:22 AM, JEREMY VARON <jva...@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Joanne - great.

I will craft a short, sweet email; and yes, I’ll highlight the CW communities I discuss (I mention a bunch, actually).

And Frida (a character in the book) is writing a review of the book for waging non-violence. So it would be perfect to include that link!  Let’s wait for it to be published (could be any day now) before we send an announcement.

You can of course vet the text I generate to make sure it strikes the write tone and includes the proper info.

And yes, my son is dear Arlo, now.a first-year student in college!

Jeremy

On Oct 31, 2025, at 9:23 AM, Joanne Kennedy <kennedy...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Jeremy! 

Yes, of course I’ve met you and you’re delightful son, Arlo, right!? who must be a young adult by now which can only mean we’re getting old!!! 

I think this is appropriate for the Catholic worker list serve. Can you craft a short email describing/teasing  the parts of the book that reflect on the Catholic Worker and be sure to list which communities (if it’s more than New York) and then I’ll forward it on.

If there is a review already written, we could also include that especially if it’s by Frida Berrigan, who is very well respected within the Catholic worker circle!!

jk

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM JEREMY VARON <jva...@aol.com> wrote:

Dear Joanne,

This is Jeremy Varon.  Doubtless we have met. I was heavily for years involved in Witness Against Torture and became a close “friend of the worker"  My good friends and associates include Matt and Amada, Carmen, Bill, Bud, other NYC Catholic Workers, and I’ve worked with Kathy Kelly, Art Laffin, BryanTerrell, Bill Streit, Beth Brockman, and so on.

I’m writing because I just published a new book, "Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War: The Movement to Stop the War on Terror.” (University of Chicago Press). See: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo254664321.html

Amanda said it might be possible to post word of the book’s release on a CW lis-serve that will reach CW houses and members nationwide.

The books is the first comprehensive history of the movement against the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, as well as torture/GTMO. It is written for everyday people, not professional scholars. The movement was big, spirited, and, I argue, consequential. But it has left little visible legacy in our culture; indeed, there is almost no sustained discussion of any aspect of the War on Terror; with the book I seek to contribute to a broader reckoning with a difficult history that much of the country would just as soon forget or ignore.

In the book, I have a fair amount of the material on the CW and peace actions it undertook after 9/11. I tell the reader what the CW is; I profile Witness Against Torture at length, and describe high-risk protests by Beth, Steve Baggerly, Bill Streit, Mark Colleville and others. The CW has a long, storied history of peace, civil rights, and social justice work. I’m convinced that its activism after 9/11 is a major chapter in the life of the movement.

So, I’m wondering if you might post an announcement about the book’s release to relevant list serves. I simply want the people I wrote about, and tried to honor, to know about the book. I don’t mean this as “promo” in any crass sense. I know CW folks will be interested in learning more about the antiwar movement and the role of the CW within it.

Please let me know what is possible. You could craft the announcement, or we could do it together, with brief mention of my engagement of CW history.

Jeremy