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James S. Kunen

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/james_kunen

born

October 01, 1948 in Boston, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.jameskunen.com

influences

Kurt Vonnegut was my mentor. We met on Cape Cod and he encouraged me t...more

member since

December 2011

About this author

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James S. Kunen is the author of popular and critically praised books that grapple with legal and political issues in a personal way. A prize-winning journalist, he is best known for his 1968 memoir, The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary—his account of the antiwar student strike at Columbia. It has been translated into four languages and widely used in college history and writing courses. MGM’s film version of the book won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.

Graduating from Columbia in 1970, Kunen was sent to Vietnam by True magazine to write a series of articles, which led to his book Standard Operating Procedure: Notes of a Draft-Age American (1971).

After working as a freelance journalist, Kunen earned his...more James S. Kunen is the author of popular and critically praised books that grapple with legal and political issues in a personal way. A prize-winning journalist, he is best known for his 1968 memoir, The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary—his account of the antiwar student strike at Columbia. It has been translated into four languages and widely used in college history and writing courses. MGM’s film version of the book won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.

Graduating from Columbia in 1970, Kunen was sent to Vietnam by True magazine to write a series of articles, which led to his book Standard Operating Procedure: Notes of a Draft-Age American (1971).

After working as a freelance journalist, Kunen earned his juris doctor degree from the New York University School of Law and joined the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., where he moved from misdemeanor cases to representing people accused of serious crimes, including murder. He recounted his experiences in ‘How Can You Defend Those People?’: The Making of a Criminal Lawyer (1983).

Returning to journalism, Kunen worked as an op-ed editor for Newsday, a contributing writer for Time magazine, and a featured writer and senior editor for news at People magazine, where he reported and wrote cover stories on Donald Trump, Tawana Brawley and Abbie Hoffman, among others. His reporting on a tragic school-bus crash led him to write a book, Reckless Disregard: Corporate Greed, Government Indifference, and the Kentucky School Bus Crash (1994).

Kunen left People in 2000 to serve as a director of corporate communications at Time Warner Inc. in New York City, where, among other things, his job was to maintain employee morale during the company’s merger with AOL and the rounds of layoffs that followed. In 2008, after being laid off himself, he embarked on a search for meaningful work that led him to his current position teaching English as a Second Language at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, N.Y. He describes the journey from corporate PR man to teacher of immigrants in his new memoir, Diary of a Company Man: Losing a Job, Finding a Life.

Kunen’s Time magazine cover story on the resegregation of America’s schools won him a First Place in Features award from the New York Association of Black Journalists and an award for reporting in education from Unity Awards in Media. As a freelance writer, he has written for The Atlantic, Esquire, GQ, Harper’s, New York, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Magazine, and other leading publications. He was a columnist for a national magazine, New Times.
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Books by James S. Kunen

Average rating: 3.77 · 159 ratings · 14 reviews · 4 distinct works

	The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary 3.76 avg rating — 150 ratings — published 1969 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Diary of a Company Man: Losing a Job, Finding a Life 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2012	My rating:
	How Can You Defend Those People?: The Making of a Criminal Lawyer 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1983 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Reckless Disregard: Corporate Greed, Government Indifference, and the Kentucky School Bus Crash 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1994	My rating:

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James is Currently Reading

James Kunen gave

to:

The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency

by Randall Kennedy

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My rating:

May 06, 2012 05:08pm

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James's Recent Updates

James Kunen made a comment in the group Q&A with James Kunen — Can an ordinary life make extraordinary reading? topic "Agreed. But on the publication front, have you noticed the heavy tilt toward stories of abuse and addiction? It's hard to find many books about "ordin...more "
May 28, 2012 08:30pm
James Kunen made a comment in the group Memoir Authors — Tips on how to write a memoir. topic "Jonathan, thanks for your clarification. I think sometimes things "sound" different in email than they would spoken or written out more fully. And Chr...more "
May 28, 2012 09:59am
James Kunen made a comment on Rahadyan's review of The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary "Rahadyan wrote: "Wow! It's quite an honor and a pleasure to hear from you. I look forward to reading Diary of a Company Man. Thank you!" I'm pleased th...more "
May 27, 2012 08:29pm · see review
James Kunen is now friends with Harley
May 27, 2012 08:27pm
James Kunen made a comment in the group Q&A with James Kunen — Do you distort your life by turning it into grist for a book? topic "Well, I earned my cynicism, Harley. Ironically, I was brought on board Time Warner corporate communications specifically to help craft and promulgate...more "
May 27, 2012 06:56pm
James Kunen liked Cecilia's review of The Strawberry Statement: " I lived a pretty sheltered suburban life in the Midwest when James S. Kunen was going to college at Columbia (NY) in the late '60s. I was some years younger than the author but sure remember the times...and yeah, "they were a changin'". I re-read... " Read more of this review »
May 25, 2012 01:15pm · see review
James Kunen made a comment on Beth's review of The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary "Beth, Thanks so much for your kind words about The Strawberry Statement. You've definitely encouraged me, and as you know, writers need that. Please f...more "
May 25, 2012 01:14pm · see review
James Kunen liked Beth's review of The Strawberry Statement: " Definately one of my all time favorite books. Read it if you can get your hands on a copy. "
May 25, 2012 01:12pm · see review
James Kunen liked Carly's review of The Strawberry Statement: " I guess you could say that this book has some political motives, but the hidden narrative driving the heart of this book is open to interpretation. Unknown teenage writer throws himself into the heat of the late-1960s revolution movement, produces... " Read more of this review »
May 25, 2012 12:52pm · see review
James Kunen joined the Book Buying Addicts Anonymous group.
May 24, 2012 10:03am · see group

More of James's books…

Quotes by James S. Kunen

“We youths say “like” all the time because we mistrust reality.”
― James S. Kunen, The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary

tags: philosophy , politics , youth

5 people liked it

“Time doesn't fly. It just never stops. And the next thing you know, it's now."
--from "Diary of a Company Man”
― James S. Kunen

1 person liked it

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Book Buying Addic...: Political Science-20th Century Revolutionary Writing	5	68	May 24, 2012 10:14am
Gigi's Company: Book Cover Challenge	744	266	May 29, 2012 12:19pm