Bill Slavick

Bill Slavick (born 1928) is a peace activist who ran for the U.S. Senate in Maine as an independent in the 2006 election. He came in third place, receiving 5.2% of the vote.

Background

Bill Slavic was born in Tennessee, and grew up during the Great Depression. After high school, Slavick was a Memphis Commercial Appeal sportswriter. He served in the U.S. Army. In graduate school, he wrote for the South Bend, Indiana, Democratic weekly. After retirement, he operatedPilgrimage Interfaith Bookstore, then assisted in construction of a
Sebago Lake family vacation house.

His wife, Ursula, served as Portland Teachers’ Association president. Both are active in Sacred Heart/St. Dominic parish as Council members and leaders of the Haiti project. They have six living children and nine grandchildren. They reside in Portland.

Slavick has published hundreds of articles and numerous letters on social justice and peace subjects in state and national publications. His scholarly writing focuses on modern Southern fiction.In academé, Slavick contributed significantly to faculty shared governance, originated the USM honors program, chaired faculty bodies including the Maine Association of University Professors Conference, led in initiating faculty collective bargaining, and organizedacademic and peace conferences. He served on the board of Citizens for Educational Freedom.

Education

He earned three degrees at Notre Dame and taught at Notre Dame, St. Mary’s College, Louisiana State University, SUNY Geneseo, Marquette, Mount. St. Paul, and the University of Southern Maine(1970-1995). He was a Fulbright lecturer in West Germany in 1977.

Politics and activism

Slavick has been involved in religious and secular efforts to advance several generally progressive causes, mostly causes opposed to American foreign policy. Slavick served for 19 years as coordinator of Pax Christi Maine, the Catholic and ecumenical peace movement. He has been a spokesperson for the Maine Fair Trade Coalition and is afounding member of Maine Haiti Solidarity and Maine Peace and Justice in Israel/ Palestine. In Catholic Organizations for Renewal, he is a voice for church reform and lay responsibility, especially regarding social justice and peace issues. He is an active member of Veterans for Peace. He was 1996 recipient of the Amnesty International Chapter 174 Human Rights Activist Award.