THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP

This is an oral history based on filmmaker David L. Lewis' full-length documentary profile of the jazz critic and civil libertarian Nat Hentoff. The narrative, from extensive interviews with Hentoff and many of his allies and rivals – who were often one and the same, depending on the issue and the day – traces a unique career in American journalism and activism. Hentoff is credited for inventing modern jazz criticism, and for being one of the most ardent – and strident – voices in the country in favor of free speech and the free press, no matter what the cost personally or professionally.

David Lewis is a CUNY Graduate School of Journalism professor, president of Wishing Well Productions and a former CBS “60 Minutes” producer and Daily News reporter.