Harriet Keyserling
Foreword by
Richard W. Riley

An unconventional politician's indelible impression on the world of "good ol' boy" Southern politics

6 x 9, 388 pages
32 halftones
cloth, ISBN 1-57003-271-8, $14.95t

ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1944, when Harriet Keyserling arrived in the small South Carolina town of Beaufort, she found herself in an environment as foreign to her native New York City as the Russia her parents left fifty years earlier. Coming to Beaufort with her husband-a native son and local physician-she was a liberal northerner in the conservative South and a Jew in a predominantly Christian world. These religious and political differences only intensified her feelings of being an outsider—a thread that would run through much of her life and career.

Against the Tide traces, in Keyserling's own words, her journey into the world of "good ol' boy" Southern politics and her labors to reform the political system in South Carolina. It is the story of a woman who arrived a Yankee liberal and became an effective eight-term legislator in the South Carolina House of Representatives. After successfully raising four children and "professionally" volunteering for most of her adult life, Keyserling became involved in state and local politics. Driven by passion for the causes she supports, she organized a chapter of the League of Women Voters, became the first woman to serve on the Beaufort County Council, and, at the age of fifty-four, was elected to the state General Assembly. She served for sixteen years then retired in 1992, when the rancor and partisanship of the legislature became intolerable for her.

Against the Tide describes the intensely personal journey of an unconventional politician struggling for self-confidence, overcoming odds, and making a lasting difference. At a time when the political tide is again turning, Harriet Keyserling proves that one person can effect change in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Harriet Keyserling graduated from Barnard College in New York City with honors in economics and mathematics. She lives in Beaufort, South Carolina.