U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1966. Hardcover. Appears to be the only edition, thus the first. From the ' Eighty-eighth Congress, First Session.' Once listed this will be the Only signed copy of this book for sale on the Internet--- except for the other one I have signed. In my book collecting days I was fortunate to be able to purchase good number of books owned by John J. McCloy and a good number previously owned by Theodore Bikel. And somehow, oddly enough, both of them had the same book signed and inscribed by William Fitts Ryan. And, oddly enough, no one else has a signed copy.This book is signed and inscribed by the late Congressman William Fitts Ryan to the renowned actor, baladeer, and political activist Theodore Bikel. The inscription is on the first front end paper. It reads: 'To Theo Bikel, who shared the commitment of Eleanor Roosevelt and who has so unselfishly dedicated himself to the cause of political democracy, with deep appreciation, Bill Ryan, 9/15/66.'
The first memorial address in the book is from Representative Ryan. It runs from page 15 through to page 21. William Fitts Ryan was the first member of the U.S. House of Representatives to speak out against the Vietnam War. He served as assistant district attorney in New York County from 1950 until 1957 and then again from 1957 until 1961. In 1961, he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, representing Manhattan's Upper West Side, and was elected five more times before his death in 1972. He was active throughout his political career in support of the civil rights movement.
'Theodore Bikel was an active supporter and campaigner for John F. Kennedy. He did some of his campaigning during the run of The Sound of Music which got him into trouble with the producers, who did not think it was becoming for an actor. He recalls, "I would go out sometimes between matinee and evening performances, go to a rally and speak from a flat-bed truck, and then come back to the theater." The producers stopped complaining, however, when after one show he was picked up backstage by a limousine carrying Eleanor Roosevelt, and he accompanied her to a Democratic rally as her special guest.'