Authors Gerald & Janice Haslam have recently published In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa, a new book available through the IGS Store.
About the Book
This intimate and detailed biography of the man whose popular book Language in Thought and Action is used as an introduction to general semantics for high-school and college students today draws on interviews with friends and family members, as well as S. I. Hayakawa’s own papers and journals, to bring this controversial and fascinating figure to life.
He was an enigma to colleagues as well as adversaries, a Republican senator who consistently bucked his party’s ideals with his support of the women’s movement, abortion rights, and even Ronald Reagan’s search for a female running mate. The son of Japanese immigrants, born and raised in Canada before moving to the United States, Hayakawa emerges here as a complex and complicated figure. His blend of heritage, politics, artistic inclination, and intellectual achievement makes him quintessentially American.
Click here to purchase In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa in the IGS Store.
About the Authors
Gerald W. Haslam is a professor emeritus of English at Sonoma State University and the author and editor of numerous books, including Workin’ Man Blues: Country Music in California, the novel Straight White Male, and the anthology Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State.
Janice E. Haslam is the coauthor, with Gerald W. Haslam, of the fiction collection Manuel and the Madman and An Instructor's Guide to Many Californias.
Reviews
In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa traces the fascinating life of an iconic American writer, teacher, politician, and family man. In the process, authors Gerald W. Haslam and Janice E. Haslam tell us a lot about the culture wars of the 20th century—and of American identity itself. The authors’ many fans will be delighted by this definitive biography, as will students, scholars, and teachers of ethnic studies, California history, and American politics.
—Jonah Raskin
Author of American Scream: Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl"
and the Making of the Beat Generation
Gerald and Janice Haslam are the perfect writers for this complete and superbly researched biography of S.I. Hayakawa, the teacher, poet, scholar, writer, flamboyant college president and Senator from California, who was always seeking more, not just for fame but for other, more personal reasons. Only the Haslams, with their unique perspectives, could know and tell this story.
—Clark S. Sturges
Author of Dr. Dave: A Profile of David E. Smith, MD,
founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics
Purchase the Book
Click here to purchase In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa in the IGS Store.
