Introduction

College freshman Jeff Martindale's life begins changing almost the instant he meets Rev. Isiah Booker, a former Temple University halfback now active in the nascent Civil Rights Movement. Jeff is from a nearly all-white, small northern Michigan town. Isiah is a Philadelphian, 12 years older and black.

The Growing Friendship

Their chance meeting at a casual party on the University of Michigan campus grows from a mutual interest in fly-fishing to full-fledged friendship blended with a mentoring relationship that gradually awakens Jeff to the staggering cruelties of the segregated South, nearly 100 years after the Civil War.

Involvement and Frustration

Jeff and his girlfriend, Susan Adams, volunteer for paper-shuffling duties at the Ann Arbor NAACP, but grow increasingly frustrated with minimal national civil rights progress, even after they’re jailed for joining two Tennessee sit-ins.

Turning Point

When unspeakable violence strikes, Jeff shockingly risks his life, his future, and Susan’s love to pursue what only he views as a morally greater cause.