Harvey Milk

His Lives and Death

By: Lillian Faderman

Narrated by: Joel Froomkin

Harvey Milk - eloquent, charismatic, and a smart aleck - was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, but he had not even served a full year in office when he was shot by a homophobic fellow supervisor. Milk's assassination at the age of 48 made him the most famous gay man in modern history; 20 years later, Time magazine included him on its list of the hundred most influential individuals of the 20th century.

Before finding his calling as a liberal politician, however, Harvey variously tried being a schoolteacher, a securities analyst on Wall Street, a supporter of Barry Goldwater, a Broadway theater assistant, a bead-wearing hippie, the operator of a camera store, and organizer of the business community in San Francisco's Castro District. He rejected Judaism as a religion, but he was deeply influenced by the cultural values of his Jewish upbringing and his understanding of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.

His early influences and his many personal and professional experiences finally came together when he decided to run for elective office as the forceful champion of gays, racial minorities, women, working people, the disabled, and senior citizens. In his last five years, he focused all of his tremendous energy on becoming a successful public figure.

©2018 Lillian Faderman (P)2018 Tantor

Harvey’s life

The person, Harvey Milk’s dynamic personality and the enormity of his purpose, and his coming into his own personhood were covered in this book.

A Great Picture into the Life of Harvey Milk

The writer paints a broad, understandable picture of the political and societal factors that led Harvey Milk to lead a civil rights awakening for the gay and lesbian people in the US and beyond. The reader is very easy to hear and understand, and brings the words to life with his expressive reading style.

Outstanding Oration

I am thoroughly pleased with Joel Froomkin’s performance. He transitions to Harvey’s New York accent so easily and makes this biography even more personal. I absolutely recommend, even if Faderman’s conclusion that Harvey left the U.S. Navy under honorable conditions is false. (He was dishonorably discharged for homosexual behaviors committed while in the Navy.)

Good book; irritating narration in parts

I enjoyed this book. Like Faderman’s other books, some of the minor facts are wrong—but nothing terribly important. And periodically words and phrases are used incorrectly; something a good editor could have solved. But overall it is a good telling of an interesting story about and important person. Well worth it.

The narrator was good except for his really irritating and completely unnecessary effort to pretend to sound like Harvey Milk when Milk was being quoted. His fake NY accent is incredibly irritating. Fortunately this is only a small part of the book, but it happens throughout. It really detracts from the story.

Saint Harvey

Lots of great information about Harvey Milk’s life and death. Interesting bits about his childhood and family growing up. Much more nuanced than the popular Milk movie with Sean Penn.
I didn’t enjoy the narration, too tremulous and emotive.