Love and War at Kent State

Dr. Jerry M. Lewis, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Kent State University writes: "On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University students, killing four and wounding nine. This action contributed to the first nationwide student strike in higher education in the United States. 'Love and War at Kent State' by Jon Michael Miller relives the two and one-half year period from the Fall of 1967 to mid-May of 1970. Miller tells the story of the protest as well as the shootings through the experiences of a passionate love story of Jake Ernst, a graduate student in English, and Tasha Van Sollis, a French teacher in the local high school. As Jake struggles with personal relationships, he becomes involved in student protest against the Vietnam War. As a teaching assistant, he becomes a faculty marshal at various protests. He encounters the May 4 shootings in that role. Miller has told a creative and important story of the protest culture at Kent State. Readers of this novel will imagine themselves walking on the Commons area thinking about protest and the Vietnam War, and what these important events have meant to the United States."