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James S. Kunen

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/james_kunen

born

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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James S. Kunen's Books

Average rating: 3.76 · 235 ratings · 20 reviews · 4 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary 3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 212 ratings — published 1969 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Diary of a Company Man: Losing a Job, Finding a Life 3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How Can You Defend Those People?: The Making of a Criminal Lawyer 3.2 of 5 stars 3.20 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1983 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reckless Disregard: Corporate Greed, Government Indifference, and the Kentucky School Bus Crash 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1994	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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James Kunen rated a book 4 of 5 stars

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

by Randall Kennedy

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May 06, 2012 05:08pm

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James's Recent Updates

James Kunen is now friends with Alex Pavlenko
Apr 01, 2013 03:06pm · like
James Kunen made a comment in the group Q&A with James Kunen — When you write a memoir about your work, are you betraying the people you've worked with? topic "Cecilia wrote: "Since I am not an author, only a reader, I have no real experience with this issue. I do agree with Jeffrey's comments. There is not m...more "
Jun 16, 2012 09:21am
James Kunen made a comment in the group Q&A with James Kunen — Can an ordinary life make extraordinary reading? topic "Thank YOU, for invigorating my Q & A with challenging conversation. Naturally, I would love you to read my book; I think you'll find it interestin...more "
Jun 15, 2012 12:56pm
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 "Thank you. Yes, I feel like I am helping my own grandparents."
Jun 10, 2012 08:13pm
James Kunen made a comment in the group Memoir Authors — Introduce Yourself topic "I agree. Welcome, Nikki. You are sort of a surrogat memoirist on behalf of your father, which is close enough for me."
Jun 10, 2012 06:41pm
James Kunen made a comment in the group Memoir Authors — Add your book to the group bookshelf topic "Thanks. To try this out, I clicked on the Sixties tag re Monsters of the Midway. Nothing seemed to happen regarding being shown other books, but I'll...more "
Jun 05, 2012 09:32am
James Kunen and 1 other person liked Cecilia's review of The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary: " 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 liked Beth's review of The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary: " 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 Casper's review of The Strawberry Statement: Notes of a College Revolutionary: " "
May 25, 2012 12:52pm · see review
James Kunen joined the group Book Buying Addicts Anonymous
May 24, 2012 10:03am · like

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

10 people liked it

“You are not alone. You are instead lonely. There is loneliness as can exist only in the midst of numbers and numbers of people who don’t know you, who don’t care about you, who won’t let you care about them.”
― James S. Kunen

4 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

2 people liked it

See all James S. Kunen's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Book Buying Addic...: Political Science-20th Century Revolutionary Writing	5	71	May 24, 2012 10:14am
Gigi's Company: Book Cover Challenge	1054	299	Jun 17, 2013 08:54am