In the spirit of '60s activism, one of our era's most influential advocates of social and political change teaches protesters and dissenters how it was done, and how to keep doing it today.

"Be original. See what happens." So Todd Gitlin advises the young mind burning to take action to right the wrongs of the world but also looking for bearings, understanding, direction, and practical examples.

In Letters to a Young Activist, Todd Gitlin looks back at his eventful life, recalling his experience as president of the formidable Students for a Democratic Society in the '60s, contemplating the spirit of activism, and arriving at some principles of action to guide the passion and energy of those wishing to do good. He considers the three complementary motives of duty, love, and adventure, and reflects on the changing nature of idealism and how righteous action requires realistic as well as idealistic thinking. And he looks forward to an uncertain future that is nevertheless full of possibility, a future where patriotism and intelligent skepticism are not mutually exclusive.

Gitlin invites the young activist to enter imaginatively into some of the dilemmas, moral and practical, of being a modern citizen--the dilemmas that affect not only the problems of what to think but also the problems of what to love and how to live.

Todd Gitlin

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1960年代末期，吉特林擔任學生爭取民主社會聯盟（Student for a Democratic Society）第三屆的主席，並協助組織動員各項社會運動，包括當時反越戰的活動。

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吉特林過去齣版的十餘本書，包括兩本小說、一本詩集和數餘本社會觀察的研究。作者的文章也常見於各大報刊雜誌，例如紐約時報、華盛頓郵報等，並受邀為《紐約觀察傢》（New York Observer）和《舊金山審查人》（San Francisco Examiner）的專欄作傢。

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現任教於美國哥倫比亞大學，專業領域為新聞及社會學。作者擁有哈佛大學、密西根大學、柏剋萊大學的學位，分別專修於數學、政治及社會科學，曾任教於加州大學柏剋萊分校、哥倫比亞、紐約大學長達廿年時間。