Luther professor Klammer co-authors book

Luther College Professor Martin Klammer has co-authored a book with South African freedom movement hero Blanche La Guma. Titled "In the Dark with My Dress on Fire: My Life in Cape Town, London, Havana and Home Again," the book has been published by Jacana Press and is scheduled for release in South Africa in October.

The book is the life story of La Guma, a South African woman who dedicated her life to ending apartheid through her various roles as professional nurse, wife and mother, and underground Communist activist.  

Born into a poor, working-class colored family in Cape Town, La Guma met her future husband, the novelist Alex La Guma, while training as a nurse-midwife in the early 1950s.  Together they fought apartheid in South Africa at great personal risk before continuing the struggle in exile in London, England, and Havana, Cuba.            

Klammer is professor of Africana studies and English and head of the Africana studies department at Luther.  He holds the bachelor of arts degree from the University of Oregon, the master of arts degree in religion from Lutheran School of Theology and the doctor of philosophy degree in English from The University of Iowa.