Paul Rogat Loeb (born July 4, 1952)[1] is an American social and political activist.
Loeb was born in 1952 in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Stanford University and subsequently attended New York's New School for Social Research and worked actively to end the Vietnam War. He also began his writing and speaking career during this time.
Loeb's writings have appeared in numerous newspapers and journals. His first book, Nuclear Culture, examined the daily life of atomic weapons workers at the Hanford site in Tri-Cities, Washington. Hope In Hard Times portrayed ordinary Americans involved in grassroots peace activism. He has also written books examining student activism at universities, and his book Soul of a Citizen aimed to inspire citizen activists. His book The Impossible Will Take a Little While, an anthology of the achievements of activists in history who faced enormous obstacles, was named the #4 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Associaiton and won the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year. In 2010 St Martin's Press released a wholly updated edition of Soul of a Citizen, which now has 130,000 copies in print between the two editions
Loeb's work offers an often alternative look at current social issues, from poverty and taxation and budget priorities to criminal justice, environmentalism, and citizen activism. His writing has received much attention and been cited in Congressional debates. He has been interviewed hundreds of times for radio, TV and print media. He's also lectured at numerous college campuses and national conferences. In January 2002, his talk at the annual provost's conference of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities inspired the American Democracy Project, which now exists on 200 college campuses.
Loeb blogs regularly at Huffington Post and lives in Seattle, Washington.