North Star: A Memoir

by Peter Camejo

"Peter was a friend, colleague and politically courageous champion of the downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere."—Ralph Nader This is the autobiography of a remarkable life. As The New York Times wrote, "A first generation Venezuelan-American . . . Mr. Camejo [spoke] out against the Vietnam War and for the rights of migrant workers. He marched in Selma, Alabama, with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King." Peter Camejo (1939-2008) founded the California Green Party, won 360,000 votes in his run for governor in 2002, and ran as Ralph Nader's vice presidential candidate in 2004.

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Camejo had many fascinating experiences over decades of involvement in left politics-seemingly he participated in most of the significant events and knew lots of the most prominent people from the Left in the Western Hemisphere during his lifetime. Unfortunately, too often his memoir engages in recitation of dates and names rather than critical self-reflection. For example, I’d be very interested to know more about how a committed Trotskyist for decades like himself ended up working for Merrill Lynch successfully and touting the benefits of “socially responsible investing”. You sometimes hear about Leftists totally disowning their beliefs but it is perhaps even weirder to read of someone maintaining most of their ideological commitments while entirely switching the arena they practice those in. Maybe the book would have had more about it had he not passed away while writing it.

[Patrick Harrison]

Good reccomendation from Liam and Hannah. Great anecdotes that speak to my own experiences in far left organisations, and interesting looks at the dynamics of successful campaigns as well as the machinations of social democracy to undermine people in struggle. A clever, creative writer and thinker whose life was cut too short.

[Lynn Sherrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Camejo's autobiography is essential to my historical narrative book Ceremony of Innocence. Camejo came to Berkeley in 1966 on the heels of the Free Speech Movement. His mission from the Socialist Workers' Party was to recruit University of California students. Camejo was one of three brothers, all revolutionaries, whose activities interested not only the FBI and the CIA, but the French Secret Service, and the Mexican police.
Camejo's biography is self-serving and he is careful not to incriminate himself, but in conjunction with his diaries and papers at the University of California Davis I was able to round out the history of the Battle of Berkeley, a five day siege of my city in 1968.

[Willard Brickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Camejo was the Socialist Workers Party candidate for president in 1976 and later Ralph Nader's running mate for the Green Party. I was on the left in my youth and Camejo was the first person I voted for for president. This interested me enough to read his memoir when I discovered it.
He is an interesting and charming man when his subject is himself or his life. When he discusses politics his approach is a pretty conventional defense of Marxism. He attacks dogmatism but never strays far from it.