The Promise of the Present and the Shadow of the Past

[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)