The Damndest Radical: The Life and World of Ben Reitman, Chicago's Celebrated Social Reformer, Hobo King, and Whorehouse Physician

Ben Reitman was a hobo, medical doctor, anarchist, and social reformer of the early 20th century. This book reveals his world, a world that most history books tend to ignore- the world of the hobos and political radicals (they were often one and the same) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the world of "Hobohemia." Much of this world centered around old time Chicago (the winter quarters for most hobos) and such institutions as the Hobo College, the Dill Pickle Club, and Bughouse Square. I know that one doesn't think of hobos discussing politics, economics, literature, and the arts, but that was a large part of their world. In many ways it reminds one of the world of the Beats during the 1950's- Jack Kerouac would have fit right in. In fact, considering the surprising prevalence of jazz,"free love" and recreational drugs, it uncannily prefigured the Beat scene.The people that Reitman knew makes an impressive list: Emma Goldman, Jack Reed, Walter Lippman, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, General Jacob Coxey, James Eads How (the "millionaire hobo") and Al Capone. The description of the many, now unknown, hobo philosophers is even more remarkable, for these were very remarkable men. These were free thinkers and intelligent and sensitive critics of the society around them. As for Reitman himself, I not only feel that I know him from reading this book, but I admire him and regret never actually meeting him.Oh yes, while most of the men covered in this book were labeled as "radicals" by the authorities of their time, all they really wanted was to improve life for the average working man (the hobo was essentially a migrant worker) and make society a little fairer. For this they were persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, and often murdered. Some things never change....