Democratizing America

Already past its manufacturing heyday, Winsted, Connecticut, the Naders' hometown, was wrecked by the devastating 1955 flood. For Shaf Nader, Ralph's elder brother, the way to rebuild was by democratizing knowledge. A community college, he envisioned, would turn the old town into a regional hub of learning and creative citizenship. Impossible, people said, Winsted was too small, too gritty, too depressed. Turning those attitudes around took genius, persistence, and an uncommon gift of persuasion.