Just Call Me Mike; A Journey to Actor and Activist

New York: Akashic Books/RDV Books, 2007. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 368 pages. Footnote. Signed by the Author sticker on front of the DJ. Sign with a sentiment on the title page. Sentiment reads Peace! Mike Farrell 3/22/07. Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series M*A*S*H (1975-83). In addition, Farrell was a producer of Patch Adams (1998) starring Robin Williams, and he starred in the television series Providence (1999-2002). Farrell is also an activist and public speaker for various political causes. He has been the President of Death Penalty Focus since 1994. He is a long-time opponent of the death penalty. In 2001, Farrell said of the work: "I've wept many times. But I keep finding people who inspire me--some of them on death row, and more of them in the trenches, in the courts, in religious circles, fighting against the death penalty." Farrell has helped raise defense funds for inmates he believes are innocent. Farrell's big break came in 1975 when Wayne Rogers departed M*A*S*H at the end of the third season. Farrell was recruited for the newly created role of B. J. Hunnicutt.Farrell wrote an autobiography, Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist. The book covers his working-class childhood in West Hollywood, his break into show business, his personal life, and his increasing involvement in politics and the human rights movement in the United States, Cambodia, and Latin America. His second book, Of Mule and Man , is a journal of his five-week, 9,000-mile drive around the U.S. to promote the paperback edition of his first book. From its opening pages, Mike Farrell's memoir reveals the distinctive voice of a man for whom life is an ongoing odyssey of self-discovery, personal commitment, and uncompromising social engagement. With deep insight and disarming candor, Farrell describes his early years as a timid but restless teenager in West Hollywood, delivering groceries to the homes of Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart, and countless other celebrities, while dreaming of having his own career as an actor. In stark but riveting language, he relates his formative years as a Marine recruit, confused, conflicted, and eager to prove himself as a man. Farrell humorously portrays his professional development from a young soap opera player on Days of Our Lives to the amiable star of two popular television series, M*A*S*H and Providence, to the respected producer of successful motion pictures like Dominick and Eugene and Patch Adams. At the heart of his story, Farrell narrates his public struggle to be a responsible citizen of the world. From his firsthand accounts of the ravages of war and oppression in Cambodia, El Salvador, Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and the Gaza Strip, to his tireless advocacy against capital punishment, to his deep commitment to environmental causes, Farrell portrays each of these experiences with passion, outrage, and stubborn optimism.