APRIL 2024 MAGAZINE

My mind travels across the ocean to the homeland of my grandparents—to the city of Kyiv in the Ukraine. They emigrated in the early part of the 20th Century due to political and religious reasons and to seek a better life in America. The people of the Ukraine now in the early part of this 21st century are also seeking a better life—a better life in their country. They are staying, fighting and dying for their beliefs.

The book is chock full of interesting information, if only the reader could easily grasp it. The writing is competent but unnecessarily complex, convoluted, and confusing. There are great gems in this book, but it takes hard work, mining and excavation, to separate what is precious from the dreck.

For more than 40 years, Jim McDermott has worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Washington State. As a state legislator, he helped pass laws that offered healthcare to unemployed and low-income Washingtonians, the first such program in the nation. In the United States Congress, he continued to be a much-needed voice for his most vulnerable constituents. Across America, you'll find families that are better off because Jim McDermott was fighting for them.

 – President Obama in 2016 on Congressman Jim McDermott’s impending retirement.