John Lewis died on July 17th
The congressman and civil-rights activist was 80
JOHN LEWIS had a ritual that saw him through the early 1960s. After being released from jail, he would head back to wherever he was staying—usually a local family’s house—take a long shower, put on jeans and a fresh shirt, find a little restaurant where he could order a burger and a cold soda, drop a quarter in the jukebox and play Curtis Mayfield or Aretha. He would sit down and, as he wrote in his memoir, “let that music wash over me, just wash right through me. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt anything so sweet.”
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “A country’s conscience”
Obituary July 25th 2020
From the July 25th 2020 edition
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