The Only Way Out

[Keene, NH?]: By the Author, [1954?]. Second Edition. Revised edition." Octavo (22cm). Printed white paper over boards, backed in red cloth; 239,[1]pp; illus. Printed on rough blue paper. Straight and sound, lightly rubbed, with minor toning to edges of boards and leaves: Very Good.

A book in the great tradition of eccentric New England common-sense polemic, in this case a surprisingly eloquent argument against corporate greed and in favor of better public schools to produce an educated, engaged citizenry. Willard writes in the preface: "We Americans are lost. Lost in the forest of OPPORTUNITY. There are no guide-boards except history, common sense, and the simple fundementals [sic] of elementary arithmetic." Willard, a 1904 Dartmouth grad, became a lumber company executive in Keene and was later a New Hampshire state legislator as well as a ranking member of the New Hampshire State Federation of Postoffice Clerks and an active participant in town politics.

An uncommon item, with OCLC recording two copies of this revised edition, at Dartmouth and NYPL, and only 4 copies of the 1946 first edition.