{"id":18959,"date":"2026-04-02T18:09:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=18959"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:09:35","slug":"the-remarkable-life-of-reed-peggram-the-man-who-stared-down-world-war-ii-in-the-name-of-love-by-ethelene-whitmire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/the-remarkable-life-of-reed-peggram-the-man-who-stared-down-world-war-ii-in-the-name-of-love-by-ethelene-whitmire\/","title":{"rendered":"The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram: The Man Who Stared Down World War II in the Name of Love by Ethelene Whitmire"},"content":{"rendered":"

c.2026, Viking\u00a0 <\/strong>
\n$30.00\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/strong>
\n308 pages<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Terri Schlichenmeyer<\/strong>
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

You couldn\u2019t escape it.<\/p>\n

When you fell in love, that was it: you were there for good. Leaving your amour\u2019s side was unthinkable, turning away was impossible. You\u2019d do anything for that person you loved \u2013 even, as in the new biography, The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram<\/em> by Ethelene Whitmire,<\/strong> you\u2019d escape toward danger.<\/p>\n

On August 28, 1938, Reed Peggram boarded a ship from Hoboken, New Jersey, hoping to \u201cbecome a proper gentleman\u201d and fulfill his dreams. A prolific writer and Harvard scholar of comparative literature, he\u2019d recently been awarded the Rosenwald Fellowship, which put him in the company of literary stars like Du Bois, Hurston and Hughes.<\/p>\n

Both Peggram\u2019s mother and grandmother were then domestic workers, and they had big expectations for him. Reed himself was eager to study abroad, for professional and personal reasons; he was \u201cdetermined to become a French professor and an accomplished linguist\u201d and \u201cHe also hoped to find love.\u201d<\/p>\n

What better place to do it than in Paris?<\/p>\n

Outgoing and confident, Peggram made friends easily and had no trouble moving \u201cthrough the world of his white male peers.\u201d Where he faltered was in his lack of funds. He relied on the kindness of his many friends \u2013 one of whom introduced Peggram to a \u201cman who would become so pivotal in his life,\u201d a Danish man named Arne.<\/p>\n

Peggram and Arne had a lot in common, and they began to enmesh their lives and dreams of living in the United States. But there were complications: homosexuality was largely forbidden, World War II was in its early stages and it quickly became apparent that it was dangerous to stay in Europe.<\/p>\n

And yet, Peggram loved Arne. He refused to leave without him and so, while most visiting Black Americans fled the war in Europe, \u201cReed was trying to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much more to the story inside The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram<\/em>, so much to know about Reed himself. Problem is, it\u2019s a long haul to get to the good stuff.<\/p>\n

In her introduction, author Ethelene Whitmire explains how she came to this tale and yes, it needs telling but probably not with the staggering number of inconsequential details here. Peggram moved homes a lot,<\/em> and many people were involved in keeping him in Europe. That alone can be overwhelming; add the fact that costs and other monetary issues are mentioned in what seems like nearly every page, and you may wonder if you\u2019ll ever<\/em> find the reason for the books\u2019 subtitle.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s there, nearly halfway through the book, which is when the tale takes a tender, urgent turn – albeit one with determination, rashness, and a dash of faux nonchalance. Also, if you\u2019re expecting an unhappily-ever-after because, after all, it\u2019s a World War II tale, don\u2019t assume anything\u2026<\/p>\n

Reading this book will take a certain amount of patience, so skip it if you don\u2019t have that fortitude. If you\u2019re okay with minuscule details and want a heart-pounder, though, Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram<\/em> might be a good escape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

c.2026, Viking\u00a0 $30.00\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 308 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Truth Contributor You couldn\u2019t escape it. When you fell in love, that was it: you were there for good. Leaving your amour\u2019s side was unthinkable, turning away was impossible. You\u2019d do anything for that person you loved \u2013 even, as in the new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[20],"class_list":["post-18959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book_review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18959"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18961,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18959\/revisions\/18961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18959"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=18959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}