Some of It Was Fun

In my political science classes, I show an episode of the civil rights miniseries Eyes on the Prize about integration of Central HS in Little Rock, AR and Ole Miss. It's a fascinating documentary with many people who experienced these events first hand. One of the people interview is Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, author of Some of It Was Fun: Working with RFK and LBJ.

Katzenbach died last year and his obituary in the New York Times mentioned that he had written a memoir of his years in the Justice Department. I ordered it right away. Katzenbach was a major player in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and was there for so many of the key events, including integration of Ole Miss, standing toe to toe with Alabama Governor George Wallace (the scene was in Forrest Gump), and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Some of It Was Fun offered great insight on the changes that took place in soicety and in government during the turbulent years of the 60s. I thought Katzenbach was a really stand up kind of guy who  really moved progress along. I even thought the title of his book was something that showed off his personality. Obvisouly, as US Attorney General, he was very important in the political realm, but the title, to me at least, makes it seem like he didn't take himself too seriously.

I really enjoyed Some of It Was Fun and I really admire Katzenbach.