Quentin Burdick: The Gentle Warrior

The Gentle Warrior is an insightful and warm biography of the late Senator Quentin Burdick of North Dakota. The book is based on interviews with Burdick, his family, Senate colleagues and many North Dakotans. The book reveals many tragedies in Burdick's life: the pain of his parents' divorce, the crippling football injuries, the death of his first wife, the mental breakdown of his first son and the tragic loss of his second son in a freak accident in Fargo at age 16. Late Democratic Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana called Burdick "the quiet senator."