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--NJ.com
--Publishers Weekly

 

NJ.com
John Atlas
December 12, 2007

"Tony Mazzocchi is one of New Jersey's great heroes. I say New Jersey because he was an autoworker in New Jersey and lived in Maplewood and Montclair. He is really national hero. Everyone should know about him. And now there is a great, lively, readable biography about him written by Les Leopold." To read the rest of the review click here.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
October 1, 2007

A formidable labor organizer and longtime leader of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, Mazzocchi (1926–2002), had an exceptional career that belies much received wisdom about American labor after WWII. In prose that unabashedly reflects the upbeat, streetwise worldview of its subject, Mazzocchi's friend and associate Leopold shows how Mazzocchi's earliest experiences—from a Bensonhurst childhood among a politically engaged Italian-American working-class family, to underage entry into WWII as an army grunt—informed his shrewd strategies for a militant labor agenda from the 1950s onward. That agenda embraced civil rights, anti–nuclear testing, antiwar and environmental causes, often years ahead of the liberal mainstream, while deftly negotiating such obstacles as employer antagonism, Cold War red-baiting, mob racketeering, union corruption and government intrigue. Balancing a wealth of firsthand interviews with astute judgments, Leopold delivers a vivid picture of Mazzocchi as a practical visionary whose milestones include passage of 1970's Occupational Safety and Health Act. Those undeterred by a sometimes earthy and partisan tone will find a wealth of practical lessons as well as an excellent introduction to American left and labor history. (Nov.)

 

     
 

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