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Nisei Resistance and Resilience:
A Japanese-American Life

Wipf and Stock Publishers 2021​

Purvis-Smith has found the perfect grain of sand in which we can see our world. Her compassionate, unflinching interpretation of the story of one man, Allen Maruyama, allows us to understand the forces that have divided us and, even more importantly, the ties and commonalities that unite us in our diversity.
- Charles Sichel-Outcalt

A second-generation Japanese American (Nisei) born in Southeastern Colorado, Dr. Allen Maruyama was an all-American boy. Following the Pearl Harbor attack, this popular high school athlete was confronted with immediate and "perilous rejection."  He "saw the face of the enemy" each time he looked in the mirror. ​
His life's story is one of overcoming "violent self-hatred" to reclaim his heritage and of achieving prominence as a national leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), based on his commitments to "human rights, peace, and justice."
     At first glance, this might seem to be a book for those who specialize in religion, church history, biography, or Asian-American studies. However, I argue, first, that this is a carefully told and thoroughly researched biography that immediately raises questions of identity . . . that are never simple nor stable. . . . 
     Second, this story positions an individual life within a broader context so we see the short-comings of typical dichotomies—such as conservative versus liberal, young versus old, one region versus another, spiritual verses physical—in a new and richer way. Purvis-Smith has crafted a story in the spirit of a micro-history that avoids the master narrative and so opens up such dichotomies for reconsideration and, potentially, for synthesis. . . .
     Third, this is a rich example of ethnography combined with close attention to the language and rhetorical choices embedded in official documents. . . . As a teacher of writing and rhetoric, I find the structure and methodology of Purvis-Smith's book worthy of critical attention. I urge my academic colleagues to consider this book's larger relevance and find ways to bring it into their classrooms.
​                                                                          Margaret Marshall, PhD

In His Words - Interviews with Dr. Maruyama

In High School

"I always saw myself as being sub-human, being less than a person."

During Basic Training

"A 6 foot 5 Texan saw me struggling and asked, "Allen, would you let me help you?"

Arriving in Dubuque

"It was the whole city of Dubuque that seemed to accept me for who I was."

Dr. Allen Maruyama's Life in Pictures