Roger Allen LaPorte

Every year at this time, I find myself pondering and remembering Roger LaPorte, a young man and colleague at the Catholic Worker in NYC. Roger worked with me and others at the Worker, cooking meals, feeding the poor and providing clothing and shelter to men and women on the Bowery, the skid row of the city at the time. Roger also opposed the war in Vietnam, participated in demonstrations and on the morning of Nov. 9th, 1965, took his own life by pouring gasoline on himself and lighting a match on the sidewalk in front of the United Nations. He died a slow and painful death the next day. Roger's life was important as was his final act. Here are some pieces I've written in the past about Roger, his life and death:

(click here) Roger Allen LaPorte 1943-1965