Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon — 'Courage or Complicity?'

Third Place Books welcomes Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon to our Seward Park store for a conversation about their new book , which explores the role of disillusioned post-9/11 veterans as activists on our most important civic issues, from healthcare to immigrants' rights to workers' rights and beyond.

This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. For important updates, registration is highly recommended in advance.

For generations, America has thanked its veterans for their service but then forgotten promises made to them.

That’s why some former soldiers have always ended up on the barricades or picket lines, demanding justice for themselves or fellow workers back home. From Revolutionary War volunteers who later joined Shays’s Rebellion to World War I soldiers who staged a multiracial march on Washington to Vietnam War–era GIs who helped end the war they served in, such rank-and-file voices are hard to ignore.

In this timely collection of essays, reviews, and firsthand reporting, Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon trace that dissident legacy to the present day. They chronicle the critical role that disillusioned post-9/11 veterans now play in challenging MAGA Republicans and corporate Democrats over privatized healthcare, big money in politics, and ballooning Pentagon budgets. Inside these pages are stories of courage and complicity: veterans fighting to defend public healthcare from corporate takeover; resisting anti-union attacks; and opposing the use of federal troops for domestic policing and mass deportations. Their struggle is part of a broader fight for rights, dignity, and a better life for all poor and working-class Americans.

Courage or Complicity? is a searing indictment of political betrayal and a big salute to vets organizing against it. This book reveals the frontline battles shaping the future of American democracy.

Steve Early has been active in the Communications Workers of America for forty-five years, first as an International Union Representative and now as a News Guild/CWA member. He has worked with Labor Notes, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Association for Union Democracy, Jobs with Justice, and Labor for Bernie. A resident of Richmond, CA., Early is the author or coauthor of five previous books: Our Veterans: Winners, Losers, Friends, and Enemies on the New Terrain of Veterans Affairs; Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of An American City; The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor; Save Our Unions; and Embedded with Organized Labor. For more information on those earlier titles, see: Steve-early.org or https://ourvetsbook.com/

Suzanne Gordon is an award-winning journalist and author who belongs to the News Guild/CWA. She has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Boston Globe, and many others. She is the cofounder of the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute and serves as a Senior Policy Analyst. She is the author, editor, or coauthor of twenty books, including previous works on veterans’ and healthcare-related issues including Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope to the Nation’s Veterans and From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public. She received a Special Recognition Award from the Disabled American Veterans for her writing about veteran issues. For more information on her speaking, writing, and workshop facilitation, see suzannegordon.com. She also lives in Richmond, CA. Check out her substack: https://suzannegordon.substack.com/

About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.