Peace Talks Radio: Peacemaking Elders

In this two-part program, Peace Talks Radio salutes "Peacemaking Elders"- people who, well into their eighties, are still working for peace. Our guests in Part One are Juanita Nelson and Ruth Imber.

Juanita and Wally Nelson were among the first to take the step of refusing to pay taxes to the government because they did not want their tax dollars to go to military spending. Starting in 1948, they lived simply below the taxable income line and were active in civil rights and social justice movements. Wally Nelson died in 2002 at the age of 93. Juanita Nelson, now 85, continues on her own, living in the house she and Wally Nelson built together from salvaged material. She has no electricity, no plumbing, and grows her own food on a small tract of land in western Massachusetts. Juanita Nelson is one of our guests.

Ruth Imber, 83, is a fixture in the peace and justice community in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's a poet, writer and singing member of the "Raging Grannies." Carol Boss hosts the conversation with these two inspiring women.

Our Part Two guest is Dr. Bernard Lown, who co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In 1985, despite active opposition from the U.S. government and NATO, he and a Soviet cardiologist colleague, Evgeni Chazov, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of IPPNW. Now 87, Lown has written Prescription for Suvival: A Doctor's Journey to End Nuclear Madness. He talks with Peace Talks Radio producer Paul Ingles.