This page is dedicated to the memory of Peter Mott. It presents some background, reflections by others, and some of his own thoughts, in case his example might interest or inspire others. Included are links to: related documents; comments or tributes others have shared online; and his book, Cancer in the Body Politic. If you have any thoughts or comments feel free to contact me.
Finally, because he loved nature and was a big supporter of my art career, I invite you to browse the rest of the jimmott.com website, especially the portfolios from the art projects my parents' activism helped to inspire.
CONTENTS:
TRIBUTES AND NOTICES
PETER MOTT: LETTER OF RESIGNATION
On why he left work to pursue activism full-time (pdf).
PETER MOTT: LINDISFARNE
Meditation (pdf).
PETER MOTT: REFLECTIONS
Reflections on life and meaning (pdf).
CANCER IN THE BODY POLITIC
His book, with reviews by Howard Zinn and others.
My father lived a good life, always looking for ways that he could use his time and thought and energy and love to make the family, the garden, the community, and the world part of a better reality. And he had a very confident faith in something wonderful beyond all of that which he believed we could all, in our own ways, help move each other and the world closer to. As the sign says, "all of us can do something."
The following tributes and notices help to give a more complete sense of what he was like and what he did:
MY DAD - DR. PETER MOTT
From John Mott (pdf).
PRINCETON CLASS OF 1955 AWARD
Transcript of award introduction and acceptance speech. (pdf).
PETER MOTT - PRESENTE
Tribute by Arnie Matlin from the Genesee Valley Citizens For Peace website.
THREE TRIBUTES
By Sonja Livingston, Thomas Warfield, and Wanda Schubmehl, gathered from social media. (pdf).
OBITUARY NOTICE
A pdf version.
Published in 2006 by Epica Task Force, Cancer in the Body Politic had a limited run, but copies can still be found online. Here are reviews by Howard Zinn, Walter LaFeber, Bill Moyers, and Curt Cadorette:
Peter Mott has brought together his life as a physician and his activism on behalf of human rights to give us what he calls a "diagnosis and prescription" for our nation, which badly needs both. This is a work of both fact and imagination, with a spiritual thread, a moral center, and it comes at a time in our history when we can use both common sense about the present and hope for the future. - Howard Zinn
This book is at once a diagnosis of the oncoming American tragedy by an experienced physician, and a call to - and prescription for - action from a long-time, highly knowledgeable activist. His first-hand experiences, one hopes, will fuel discussions that help produce policies radically different from those of the recent past. - Walter LaFeber
I took your little book home this weekend and read it as well as generously underlined it. Thank you for writing it and sharing a copy with me; I was very moved by your effort to get to the core of the national illness. I wish I were more optimistic that we will find and take "the cure," but your treatise gives me some hope. I am most impressed by your commitments and grateful for the way you have spent your life. - Bill Moyers
In order to help students understand complex social issues - their origin and the ways they can respond to them - it is imperative to lay things out in a clear, sequential way. Peter Mott does precisely that in Cancer in the Body Politic. I can speak from experience. Students grasp his insights immediately. Peter Mott helps them open their already half-open eyes. Most importantly, he helps them see a way out of what may seem like a hopeless impasse. The book informs and likewise inspires making it a wonderful resource for justice-oriented teaching. - Curt Cadorette, University of Rochester
