DANVILLE, Calif., December 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Good intentions often go awry. That's exactly what happens to Jody Leibowitz, whose desire to serve in the spirit of kindness was awakened by the passionate 1960s. A decade later, she utilizes that energy and volunteers with a prisoners' rights coalition in Illinois. In author Merrily Weir's new book, Jody: A Woman's Journey (now available through 1stBooks), Jody's good intentions land her in the middle of a revolutionary activist group that threatens her life.
Jody, a young Jewish woman from a middle-class family, wants to right a world gone wrong. After working on behalf of Arabs in Israel, she returns home to Skokie, Ill., to attend college. She has a desire to volunteer at the nearby Joliet State Prison, and she begins to help inmates through funding from the Black Revolutionary Organization. Her close friend, Aaron Stein, warns her to be wary, but his warnings go unheeded.
After falling in love with Marcus Smith, their leader, Jody is shocked to discover that the group is actually plotting to overthrow the United States government through terrorist acts. She finds herself in a battle between Marcus and his lieutenant, Thubutu Muhammud. Jody, a young woman who just wants to shine a light where there is darkness, witnesses Marcus' murder, which nearly seals her fate with this dangerous organization.
Gathering bravery and shunning fear, she confronts Thubutu and prepares herself for the backlash that may follow.
Weir has been published in numerous poetry anthologies, beginning in 1969. She is currently writing a sequel to Jody.
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