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Ronald
Lawrence Kovic (born July 4, 1946) is an anti-war activist,
veteran and writer who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He is
best known as the author of the memoir Born on the Fourth of
July, which was made into an Academy Award–winning movie
directed by Oliver Stone, with Tom Cruise playing Kovic. Kovic
received the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay on January
20, 1990, exactly 22 years to the day that he was shot and
paralyzed in the Vietnam War. He was also nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Kovic and Stone
co-wrote the screenplay for Born on the Fourth of July). Bruce
Springsteen wrote the song "Shut Out The Light" after
reading Kovic's memoir and then meeting him. Tom Paxton, the
folk singer/political activist, wrote the song "Born on the
Fourth of July", which is on his "New Songs from the
Briarpatch" album. Academy Award winning actress Jane Fonda
has stated that Ron Kovic's story was the inspiration for her
film "Coming Home."
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Born
on the Fourth of July:
Written by Ron Kovic
"Born on the Fourth of July
brings back the era of the Vietnam War at a time when the
Establishment is trying to make the nation forget what they call
the "Vietnam syndrome." Ron Kovic's memoir is written
with poetic passion and grips your attention from the very first
page to the last. It is a classic of anti-war literature and I
hope it will be read by large numbers of young people, who will
be both sobered and inspired by his story. --HOWARD ZINN
"Ron Kovic is one of the
premier voices of a generation. The large irony of his birthday
provides the background for a journey which begins with the
unquestioning service in Vietnam, his terrible wounding with all
the anger and bitterness that follows, and ends with his
passionate discovery of a large and all too human heart. I'll
say this flat out: If you want to understand the everlasting
reverberations of our war in Vietnam and how it impacts our
current events, you must read this book." --LARRY
HEINEMANN, author of Paco's Story, winner of the National Book
Award
"There is no book more
relevant in the 21st century to healing the wound of Vietnam,
which continues to bring so much pain to our country, as
reflected in the last presidential election. Ron Kovic is the
kid who John Wayne sent to war -- though the actor, like so many
others in the macho pantheon of American culture, never saw
combat. The incredible thing about Ron is that he never lost his
sense of humor nor his deeply felt outrage, which has made him
an incredibly effective witness, determined that other young
peoples’ bodies not be wasted, as was his. It remains to Kovic
to remind us that history matters, and that the cost of our high
follies persists." --ROBERT SCHEER, Los Angeles Times
columnist, bestselling author
"As relevant as ever, this
book is an education. Ron is a true American, and his great
heart and hard-won wisdom shine through these pages."
--OLIVER STONE, filmmaker
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