My Kind of Good Trouble: An Activist's Memoir

Tear-gassed as a freshman in college, this memoir takes us through the tenacity and grit of five decades of activism. While working with non-profits and her church, she found ways to serve her local community and people living in poverty-stricken areas of the US and Guatemala.

In this memoir, Christenson tells scores of stories of teenagers who broke the law and faced jail time, battered women who killed their abusers in self-defense and were serving long prison sentences, immigrants who fled war-torn countries and are struggling to reunite with family members who were not able to escape, prostitutes who hoped to leave the life of prostitution behind, children who wanted to visit a parent in prison, and elderly people who wanted to live as independently as possible as long as possible. Many times, Iris worked behind the scenes to advocate for the people she served, and she didn't stop when she couldn't achieve the hoped for results. Some projects were complete failures. A failure became another lesson so the next project could be more successful. Some of her most successful projects were the result of collaboration with other dedicated advocates.

Iris is a 74-year-old feminist grandmother who shares stories of her five decades of activism. While working in multiple careers and joining forces with non-profits and her church, she saw when things were wrong and took action. She was a therapist for residents in nursing homes, a counselor for women leaving prostitution, a criminal, family, and elder law lawyer, a leader of non-profit organizations that worked to educate the public about the harmful effects of pornography, and a frequent member of mission teams serving in poverty-stricken areas of the US and Guatemala. More recently, she volunteers at her grandson's school and provides transportation to tutoring sessions or helps him with his homework. In her spare time, Iris enjoys making hand-stitched art quilts from fabric printed with her photos. She and her husband live with their dog, Rusty, in Madison, Wisconsin, and spend as much time as possible at their log cabin in the Chequamegon National Forest near Clam Lake.