A Saving Remnant : The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds

By the time their paths first crossed in the 1960s, Barbara Deming and David McReynolds had each charted a unique course through the political and social worlds of the American left. Deming, a feminist, journalist, and political activist with an abiding belief in nonviolence, had been an out lesbian since the age of sixteen. The first openly gay man to run for president of the United States, on the Socialist Party ticket, McReynolds was also a longtime opponent of the Vietnam War—he was among the first activists to publicly burn a draft card after this became a felony—and friend to leading activists and artists from Bayard Rustin to Quentin Crisp. In this remarkable dual biography, the prize-winning historian Martin Duberman reveals a vital historical milieu of activism, radical ideas, and coming to terms with homosexuality when the gay rights movement was still in its nascent stages. With a cast of characters that includes intellectuals, artists, and activists from the critic Edmund White and the writer Mary McCarthy to the young Alvin Ailey and Allen Ginsberg, A Saving Remnant is a brilliant achievement from one of our most important historians. By the time their paths first crossed in the 1960s, Barbara Deming and David
McReynolds had each charted a unique course through the political and social worlds of the American left. Deming, a feminist, journalist, and political activist with an abiding belief in nonviolence, had been an out lesbian since the age of sixteen. The first openly gay man to run for president of the United States, on the Socialist Party ticket, McReynolds was also a longtime opponent of the Vietnam War—he was among the first activists to publicly burn a draft card after this became a felony—and friend to leading activists and artists from Bayard Rustin to Quentin Crisp.

In this remarkable dual biography, the prize-winning historian Martin Duberman
reveals a vital historical milieu of activism, radical ideas, and coming to terms with homosexuality when the gay rights movement was still in its nascent stages. With a cast of characters that includes intellectuals, artists, and activists from the critic Edmund White and the writer Mary McCarthy to the young Alvin Ailey and Allen Ginsberg, A Saving Remnant is a brilliant achievement from one of our most important historians.
Hailed as “remarkable” and “a must read” by Choice, A Saving Remnant is prizewinning historian and biographer Martin Duberman’s deeply revealing dual portrait that explores the fascinating political and social lives of two integral and captivating figures of the twentieth-century American left. Barbara Deming, a feminist, writer, and abidingly nonviolent activist, was an out lesbian from the age of sixteen. The first openly gay man to run for president on the Socialist Party ticket, David McReynolds was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War and was among the first activists to publicly burn a draft card. Duberman brings the stories of a pivotal era vividly and movingly to life with an extraordinary cast of intellectuals, artists, and activists, including Adrienne Rich, Bayard Rustin, Allen Ginsberg, and a young Alvin Ailey. Telling a complex narrative, “Duberman has made it simply and brilliantly clear” (Edmund White, author of City Boy) as he deftly weaves together the connected stories of these two compelling figures in this beautiful, memorable book. A Saving Remnant is a brilliant dual biography of two of the most fascinating twentieth century gay political activists: Barbara Deming and David McReynolds. When Barbara Deming and David McReynolds first met in the early 1960s; each was deeply engaged with many of the critical issues of their day. An American feminist, writer, and political activist with a deep and lasting commitment to non-violent struggle, she was repeatedly jailed for her participation in nonviolent protests and traveled to Hanoi in 1966 to see for herself what the war looked like. The first openly gay man to run for Presi