My Mantelpiece: A Memoir of Survival and Social Justice
In 1964, Goodman’s 20-year-old son, Andy, joined James Chaney and Michael Schwerner on a trip to Philadelphia, Mississippi, to challenge the Ku Klux Klan’s efforts to continue disenfranchising black citizens. The murder of the three civil rights workers galvanized the movement, but however painful and unbearable, it was only part of Carolyn Goodman’s life of social activism and survival. Goodman, who died in 2007, collaborated with writer Herzog to tell her life story, a frank recollection of a cold mother, childhood sexual abuse, teenage abortion, her father’s suicide, and the loss of two husbands. But hers was also a life full of love in the family she created with her first husband and three sons, a life of art and activism. The Goodmans were active supporters of workers’ rights and civil rights, and they continued the legacy of their martyred son through a foundation named for him. From the perspectives of daughter, wife, mother, activist, and psychologist, Goodman details the tribulations and triumphs of her life. Poems and letters included in the memoir illustrate the love and devotion of the Goodmans and the joy of their relationships. --Vanessa Bush