"Paid To Piss People Off" is a three volume memoir by a man who was at the forefront of major civil liberties issues for 50 years. He sought amnesty for those who refused to participate in the Vietnam War and achieved relief for veterans whose discharges, often without trials, cost them medical and other benefits. He fought censorship of all kinds, including nearly singlehandedly destroying the Reagan-era Meese Commission on Pornography. At the ACLU, he fought for the free speech rights of flag burners, rap and rock musicians, and purveyors of "disfavored" products from condoms to tobacco. He joined forces with well-known conservatives in battling campus speech codes and restrictions on political advertising. For 25 years, he led Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In that job, he opposed mandated school prayer, taxpayer funded support of private religious schools, "creationism," discrimination against employees and beneficiaries by religiously based organizations getting government grants, efforts to restrict reproductive choice and abortion, and those who would use religion to cause harm to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Barry Lynn went from being a shy child to positions that brought him into public confrontations on the debate circuit, in the media, and in the halls of Congress with virtually every right-wing ‘leader’ in America, from Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell to Bill O’Reilly, Pat Buchanan, Colonel Oliver North and Tucker Carlson. Lynn is both an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a lawyer who is a member of the Supreme Court bar. He has won prestigious awards, such as one for “creative citizenship” from the Nation Institute and the Puffin Foundation, and a “Freedom of Worship” medal from the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation, as well as numerous other honorary doctorates and commendations from civil rights and women’s organizations.
The book has drawn praise from many perspectives. Decorated Marine and author of Born On the Fourth of July Ron Kovic called it “an unforgettable portrait of a generation in turmoil.” Wade Henderson, a civil rights leader, said the memoirs “captured the unvarnished essence of one of the most important voices of his generation.” Journalist Thom Hartmann claimed that Lynn “shows how real activism works and how you can do the work too!” Comedian and social commentator Lewis Black said that “Lynn brilliantly expresses his ideas, which he delivers with wit, humor, and panache.”
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