David John Gawron '88:
http://www.goldenrulepatriot.com/
I am a 1988 graduate. I have self-published a book this past winter.
Below is an except from my acknowledgments, my bio and a copy of the cover.
Many inspired me in creating this book. I acknowledge Professor William Baum, of Grand Valley State University, who reviewed the manuscript in a 1988 independent study. He helped crystallize my thinking during the independent study and Constitutional Law courses. I acknowledge the Political Science and History Departments of Grand Valley State University and the Social Sciences Department of Muskegon Community College, whose professors inspired critical thinking and a thorough introspection of the ideas. I acknowledge the late Chester Graham, a WWI veteran and Quaker peace activist, for his ideals and tireless work for peace.
This is a philosophical treatise, a book of argument rather than a book of cited proofs. I acknowledge historians, philosophers, and the living history of the media for the ideas and information found in this work. I owe my greatest tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. whose ideals are a driving force in my thinking. I am influenced by the political philosophers who wrote the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the equal protection clauses, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
It is 2007 and I am 52. The past 18 years I have worked as a social worker. I have provided substance abuse treatment, served as a mediator/investigator to settle disputes concerning parenting time and child custody, and worked as a client services manager for community mental health. Previously, I worked as a machine operator at a small business machine shop and at a conglomerate-owned unionized factory.
I am a political animal. I have studied non-violent struggle and war. I studied political science and history in college. I observe the political world. Since my youth I have been a news junkie, consuming books, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and TV news. I consciously analyze political, economic, social, and environmental reality. I have debated people whose political viewpoints range from the far right to the far left and points between.
I am the son of a union laborer and union social worker, the grandson of Polish immigrants and German-French northern Michigan farm stock. I am a third generation social worker. My maternal grandfather was a social worker after World War II. I was born November 15, 1954 and raised in Muskegon, on Michigan’s West Coast of Lake Michigan. Since my teens I have worked in political campaigns and in peace, environmental, and women’s rights groups. In 1976, I wrote an essay, “The Golden Rule Economy,” discussing economics beyond Left and Right. This book has grown into a tree from that once small seed.
In 1987 I survived near murder by a parolee who invaded my home and attempted to stab me in the heart in my bed as I awoke from sleep. I fought him off despite a slashed thigh and drove him from my home saving my son and then-wife. My assailant received life in prison after I refused a plea bargain.
In 1988, I ran for Congress as a Democrat challenging Rep. Guy VanderJagt. I experienced first hand the power of the campaign finance by special interests.
Click here for Part II
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