Publisher's Synopsis
As a prominent member of the Socialist party in the early 20th century, Stokes was revered for her fiery, passionate commitment to the rights of workers. A poet, playwright, actress and pioneering feminist, she was at the centre of left-wing intellectual life until her death in 1933.;In "Fire and Grace", Arthur and Pearl Zipser trace the life of this Polish-Jewish immigrant from her arrival in America in 1890 at the age of eleven. Her lifelong commitment to social causes began when she was a cigarmaker in a Cleveland factory, where for twelve years she experienced appalling working conditions. A burgeoning interest in writng led her to New York and a job on the "Jewish Daily News". While reporting on the settlement houses on the Lower East Side, she met James Graham Phelps Stokes, in whom she found a compassionate ally in social causes.;The marriage of the New York millionaire and the "Israelitish maiden" in 1905 thrust the couple into the spotlight. Soon after, they joined the Socialist party, becoming two of its most celebrated members. One of their homes became a social and political focus in the years before World War I for their eclectic group of acquaintances, including Maxim Gorky, Rockwell Kent, Upton Sinclair, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and the southern poet Olive Dargan.;During this period Rose was an agitator on behalf of social causes - participating in several labour strikes, speaking out for women's suffrage and birth control and from 1913 to 1916 undertaking extensive speaking tours for the Intercollegiate Socialist Society.;As the Zipsers aim to show, the couple's withdrawal from the Socilist party over its anti-war stance was the beginning of the end of their marriage. While Graham's politics moved steadily to the right, Rose remained zealous in her devotion to workres' causes. Despite her conviction in 1918 under the Espionage Act and the prevailing hostility toward left-wing groups, Rose joined John Reed as a founding memberof the American Communist Party and was a delegate to the Fourth Congress of the Communist International in Moscow.;Following her divorce from Graham in 1925, she continued her political activities, eventually remarried and managed a meagre existence from writing and lectures until her death from cancer at the age of 54.
