The Promise of the Present and the Shadow of the Past

The Journey of Barbara Frass Varon

[Barbara] did not fi t the classic model of an immigrant who becomes acquainted with America through school or work, learns English, falls in love with and adopts Americas values, and is helped along in many cases by an American spouse. First of all, I was not an American. We became American together; if anything, rather than lead, I lagged behind. More important, like me, she came [from Germany] to this country fully bilingual, with considerable familiarity with its history and society, and a developed set of values. America fi t those set of values; she did not have to discover them. This book is in large part for those familiar with Barbaras community service and political work who wish they had known her longer or more closely. This book is also for the many whom Barbara would have wished to know personallythose committed to community service who, like herself, believed strongly in voting rights, human rights, and womens rights, who shared her limitless curiosity, and who loved history as much. The book is at the same time about my own journey. I traveled not only wherever she went during this journey, but in her constellation. I met in the process her spiritual kin, people linked to her by history, alleys she had not gone into, and relationships she had not fully explored. (Introduction)