"At the end of the day, I do not want to be like E.C. Kelly, two bullets lighter with a pat on the back for being a patriot."
I have been thinking a lot about the word "patriot," what it means and how we use it. I suspect Carl Laemmle also struggled with that word, given his desire--as a German-Jewish immigrant--to prove his Americanness and yet, his refusal to conceal or abandon his German-Jewish identity. This was not an easy choice in the early 20th century as Americans gave into the fever of nationalism.
Last week the Culpeper Times published my article "Let's be like Carl Laemmle." You can read it here.