Memoir in form of essays, columns published by veteran journalist

After reaching his 66th birthday, journalist and social activist Kevin James Shay continued to join marches and protests in the Washington, D.C., area. It seems he has spent his entire life protesting against one ill or another, pointing out life’s absurdities with stinging wit, standing up for liberty and justice, for our constitutional rights to petition those in power to more effectively address the grievances that plague our society.

He has done this in various forms, through writing letters, emails, social media posts, articles, columns, essays, and books, walking, talking, arguing, standing on a street corner or in front of a government building with a sign, placing handbills in public places, distributing publications, throwing buttons over walls, smuggling books and coffee into foreign places. He has gone beyond writing, protests, and complaints to work for solutions, such as helping to start retreats and businesses, mentoring youth, and volunteering.

This memoir, called Stll Searching for Utopia: Essays and Columns Written Along a Road Less Traveled, features essays and columns written during almost five decades of work as a journalist, writer, and social activist who has traveled extensively and participated in a wide range of projects, including the longest group march for causes in modern history. Topics include smuggling books and other banned items into the most repressive Soviet bloc country during the height of the Cold War, how to work for big issues like climate change and social justice, the search for the best way to live in community, the growing threat of natural disasters, the worldwide rise of dictators, and the afterlife.

This first volume covers more serious, heavier issues, while a second one plans to contain mostly lighter, humorous essays and columns, with a few heavier topics.

Shay does not hold back in discussing present trends and issues in hopes of greater understanding and sparking positive change. The pieces have been rewritten and polished, combining earlier articles, essays, and columns into broader, updated writings. Despite continued immense societal problems, Shay remains committed to seeking a form of Utopia on Earth, however imperfect it may be.

An excerpt is at this publisher's link: https://www.amazon.com/Still-Searching-Utopia-Columns-Traveled-ebook/dp/B0F8FSKRZN