A Nervous Man Shouldn't Be Here in the First Place: The Life of Bill Baggs

This book is a powerful and inspiring biography of Bill Baggs, a white editor of a prominent southern newspaper who championed unpopular ideas in his front-page columns, such as protecting the environment, desegregating public schools, and peace in Vietnam.

Despite his stances, Baggs earned a bullet hole through his office window, police officers stationed outside his home, and a used Mercedes outfitted with a remote starter so that if it had been rigged with a bomb, it would blow up before he opened the door.

Through this book, readers will learn how an orphaned boy from rural Colquitt, Georgia, bore witness and impacted some of the twentieth century's most earth-shifting events: World War II, the civil rights movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War.

With keen intellect and sparkling wit, Baggs seemed to be in the right place at the right time, using his daily column as a bully pulpit for social justice and wielding his pen like a scalpel to reveal the truth.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of journalism, social justice, or the impact one person can have on shaping the world around them.