Paul Rogat Loeb (born July 4, 1952) is an American writer whose work has focused on

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

and

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...

. Loeb was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and subsequently attended the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked actively to end the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He also began his writing and speaking career during that period.

Writing career

Loeb's first book, ''Nuclear Culture'', examined the daily life of atomic weapons workers at the Hanford Site in Tri-Cities, Washington. ''Hope In Hard Times'' portrayed ordinary Americans involved in grassroots peace activism. Generation at the Crossroads explored the choices and values of GenX His book ''Soul of a Citizen'' aimed to inspire citizen activists. His book ''The Impossible Will Take a Little While'', an anthology of the achievements of activists in history who faced and overcame enormous obstacles, was named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association and won the Nautilus Book Award for best

book of the year, and has 125,000 copies in print between two editions. ''Soul of a Citizen'' was released by St Martin's Press in 1999 and in a new and a wholly updated edition in 2010 and also won the Nautilus Award. It now has 175,000 copies in print between the two editions. Loeb has also written for a range of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, AARP Bulletin, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Psychology Today, Christian Science Monitor, Chronicle of Higher Education, Huffington Post, Redbook, Parents Magazine, Sojourners, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Detroit News, San Francisco Chronicle, St Louis Post-Dispatch, Tampa Tribune, National Catholic Reporter, Teaching Tolerance, and the International Herald Tribune. He's been interviewed on NBC, CNN, PBS, Fox, C-Span, National Public Radio, the BBC, the ABC, NBC, and CBS radio networks, American Urban Radio, Voice of America, and national German, Australian, and Canadian radio and spoken at TedX Athens and Calgary. Loeb's work offers an often alternative look at current social issues, from poverty and taxation and budget priorities to criminal justice, environmentalism, and citizen activism. His writing has received much attention and been cited in Congressional debates. He has been interviewed hundreds of times for radio, TV and print media. He's also lectured at over 400 college campuses and numerous national conferences. He founded the Campus Election Engagement Project, a national nonpartisan effort to engage students in voting, and guides.vote, which created nonpartisan candidate guides for major elections, leaving guides.vote in April 2025 to return to writing. Loeb is also a featured commentator in the film Every Three Seconds, by Oscar shortlisted documentarian Daniel Karslake.

Personal life

Loeb lives in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and is married to writer Rebecca Hughes.

Bibliography

*''Nuclear Culture'' (New Society Publishers, 1986) *''Hope in Hard Times: America's Peace Movement and the Reagan Era'' (Lexington Books, 1986) *''Generation at the Crossroads: Apathy and Action on the American Campus'' (Rutgers University Press, 1994) *''Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time'' (St. Martin's Press, 1999, second edition 2010) *''The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear'' (Basic Books, 2004, second edition 2014)

References

External links

Paul Rogat Loeb's Official Website

with Paul Loeb
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, January 30, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Loeb, Paul 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American political writers Writers about activism and social change American bloggers HuffPost writers and columnists American male non-fiction writers Nautilus Book Award winners American anti-war activists American anti–Vietnam War activists American democracy activists American sustainability advocates Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Activists from Seattle Writers from Seattle The New School alumni Stanford University alumni 1952 births Living people