By Michael O’McCarthy
The Courage to Survive
An autobiography
by
Dennis J Kucinich
Book Review by: Jennifer Lynne Ziemann
A preface note from Michael O’McCarthy: Dennis Kucinich’s younger broth, Perry died on Wednesday, December 19. Jennifer and I interviewed Dennis last month during a campaign appearance in Asheville, NC. It was a remarkable interview (previously published here - now web-viral,) with the most progressive candidate for the presidency in recent memory. During our time with him he talked some about his family life. What we found in his book, as reviewed by Jennifer, is what an extraordinary family person Dennis Kucinich is. That furthers our respect for him. And we send him our dearest condolences in his loss as a kin with whom he was very close.
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The Courage to Survive
I picked up this to read after my partner Michael O’ McCarthy and I had completed an extraordinary interview with Dennis Kucinich. He is an immensely likable man, a working class hero. I was compelled to know more and after having completed this book, I definitely understand why he is who he is.
The Courage to Survive is the autobiography of Dennis as a young boy and young man growing up in the poor working class of Cleveland, Ohio. At times his family was so destitute that they lived in their car. A particularly poignant reference in the book is when Dennis upon the first night living in their car looks out the backseat window to see a towering torch of fire shoot from a long smokestack of a steel mill. He felt the light to be comforting as it shot up to fifty feet in the air illuminating their car. Throughout his childhood he would often seek that comforting light in the sky. This is such a telling working class American story where the comfort for the child does not take place in front of a warm, cozy fireplace but in the fiery illuminating light coming from a steel mill. Living in a car at one time and being a survivor of domestic violence, I understood how life could be so bad that you cling to every precious moment and you know in your heart that somehow you will survive.This story shows how the American dream is only given to a few while the rest have to fight tooth and nail for it. And that is what Dennis did. He struggled in a family plagued by mental illness, alcoholism and domestic violence. He was the oldest of seven children who scrubbed floors and shined shoes in order to help his parents pay for book and tuition fees at Catholic school. From his meager pay he helped to buy Christmas presents for his siblings. When his mother was hospitalized for depression after the birth of her seventh child, Dennis and three of his siblings were sent to an orphanage to live until his mother came home and his parents were able to get back on their feet.Despite his parent’s alcoholism and the constant evictions his family suffered —– there is a string of emotional togetherness. There is love between his parents, Dennis and his siblings. At times dysfunctional, their love is enduring and gets Dennis through the toughest times of his life. He was an asthmatic child and at times suffered debilitating stomach pains. Due to inadequate health care he discovered in his adult life that the ailment was actually Crone’s disease. He only discovered this after having over five feet of his intestines removed.
Dennis Kucinch’s story demands attention for its tale of stalwart survival. His love of education began at an early age with his Irish mother reading Celtic stories to him at bedtime. This set a pattern of self-education, which he did on a regular basis along with his normal schooling. He went to college and at one time worked two jobs to pay for it.
He discovered that his passion was service to the people and the path in doing so was politics. He writes about his campaigning for city council, his first failed attempt and how despite doctor’s advice due to the way stress could cause a flare up in his Crone’s disease he went on to succeed in his quest for city council. This as we know is merely the beginning to a miraculous career.
I found most endearing his faith. He speaks of it throughout the book and how it helped him hold on to the belief that he could succeed. I find this so endearing because of his present day politics. He is ardent in respecting everyone’s personal belief. He speaks of Chinese medicines, Dali Lama, UFO’s, and Christianity all in one breath. He recognizes that, perhaps, there is a greater force but everyone chooses what that force is. The Courage to Survive is truly a book that would give hope to anyone that reads it.
The Courage to Survive is also testament to why Dennis Kucinich represents the best politics for a progressive change in American history and thus, makes him the best presidential candidate in US history.
