Rock 'n' Roll Radical: The Life & Mysterious Death of Dean Reed

by Chuck Laszewski

When East German police pulled American Dean Reed's body out of a lake behind the Iron Curtain in 1986, fans and government officials around the world speculated wildly about who caused his death. The handsome singing and acting superstar starred in movies with some of the biggest names of the 1960s and '70s, and women on three continents were happy to share his bed. But Reed was driven to fight injustice, braving gunfire and torture to vocally oppose oppressive governments throughout South America, touching off an international incident with his arrest in the United States and angering his own government with protests against its foreign policies. His knack for showing up wherever history was being written brought money and acclaim, but failed to translate into Hollywood fame.
This is the uniquely American tale of Reed's meteoric rise from a Colorado cowboy to a beloved international star, and of the hand that finally silenced him. For those who remember seeing Reed profiled on 60 Minutes and in the pages of People magazine, or for anyone intrigued by the early years of rock 'n' roll or the liberal activism of the 1960s and 1970s, this is the dramatic investigation of a rebel's life.

261 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Cliff Morrison]

This biography has gaps, and once in a while the author swallows whole an anecdote that's hard to believe. Even so, "Rock 'n' Roll Radical" is the most thoroughly researched and readable work I've come across about Dean Reed, a man whose political awakening can be viewed both as his salvation and his undoing. This book is certainly much superior to Reggie Nadelson's earlier, inane "Comrade Rockstar."

[Leah Erickson]

Being a child of the 80s, I never knew of Dean Reed. Chuck L, however, opened my eyes to a very intriguing cold-war era figure. Written in a Truman Capote style, this book captures the dichotomy inside a human being. Mr. Reed was passionate about human rights but, at times, did not understand the hypocrisy in his behaviors and words. This is a great read about a man that most Americans do not know.