Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman - Softcover

Watterson, Kathryn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803264763 ISBN 13: 9780803264762

Publisher: Bison Books, 2012

Synopsis

Not by the Sword tells the inspiring true story of how a Jewish cantor and his family changed the life of a virulent white supremacist leader. This riveting account begins in 1991, when Cantor Michael Weisser received his first threatening phone call from Larry Trapp, Grand Dragon of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Nebraska. But Cantor Weisser and his wife, Julie, refused to be intimidated by Trapp's escalating threats. Instead, they made a stunning offer of friendship. After an emotional confrontation with the Weissers, Trapp shocked everyone—including himself—by resigning from the KKK and breaking his ties with other neo-Nazi leaders.

Not by the Sword recounts Larry Trapp’s life as a racist, his startling transformation in response to the Weissers’ kindness, and his subsequent crusade to redeem his past. Kathryn Watterson movingly describes how one family feared, fought, and then forgave a man who had tried to destroy them.

This gripping tale gives the reader an inside view of hate mongering and offers a powerful testament to the triumph of the human spirit and the transforming power of love and tolerance.

About this title

About the Author

Kathryn Watterson teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the award-winning author of eight books, including You Must Be Dreaming (basis of the NBC movie Betrayal of Trust) and Women in Prison (basis of the ABC documentary Women in Prison).

Review

“This rare investigation of American hate-mongering provides a unique glimpse as well at the power of tolerance and love. Once Watterson places us inside the Lincoln, Nebraska, apartment of the ‘Klansman’ of the subtitle, it’s almost impossible to put this book down.”—Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle

 

(Patricia Holt San Francisco Chronicle 2012-03-12)

“Watterson has written one of the most powerful, painful, yet healing stories about our most explosive issue: race. Her book [Not by the Sword] is not only literally true but also symbolically true for us as a people—if we acknowledge and transform who and what we are.”—Cornel West, author of Race Matters

 

  (Cornel West 2012-03-12)

“Not by the Sword tells an astonishing story of daring and resourcefulness in making contact with another who would negate one’s very right to exist. . . . Watterson’s account of the events is fascinating, and the story itself is so extraordinary that one cannot but be gripped by it.”—Paul L. Wachtel, Washington Post Book World
(Paul L. Wachtel Washington Post Book World 2012-03-16)

“Watterson wrote a book about true humanity and love for fellow man that conveys a new sense of what is possible. Her effort, Not by the Sword, is uplifting, yet not mawkish. It is chilling, yet not hyperbolic. She could have easily messed up such a dramatic story. Watterson did not.”—John Hanchette, Washington Bureau, Gannett News   (John Hanchette Gannett News, Washington Bureau 2012-03-16)

“Not by the Sword has High Holy Days written all over it. It’s an epic of teshuva, healing, and the great potential of human beings to change. . . . [Watterson] reveals much about Weisser’s background that might explain why he worked so hard to give others the opportunity to change.”—Sandee Brawarsky, Jewish Week

(Sandee Brawarsky Jewish Week 2012-03-16)

“The underlying structure [of Not by the Sword] is a race against time. Readers will plunge ahead, increasingly awed by the events taking place in the story, eager to know what happens, amazed at each stage of Trapp’s remarkable rebirth as a new—though still flawed and deeply troubled— human being.”—Jim Baker, Kansas City Jewish Chronicle   (Jim Baker Kansas City Jewish Chronicle 2012-03-16)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0803264763
• ISBN 13: 9780803264762
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384