Michael Parenti, Unapologetic Marxist Theorist and Author, Dies at 92

Michael Parenti, a Marxist political theorist who published more than 20 books and lectured widely, died on Jan. 24 in Amherst, Mass. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his son, Christian Parenti. Infuriated by the Vietnam War, Dr. Parenti moved leftward and became an active critic of U.S.

policy. He was convicted in 1970 of striking a state trooper at an antiwar protest and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Vermont in 1974 on the same third-party socialist ticket as Bernie Sanders. He held teaching posts at several universities but was never granted tenure, a circumstance his son attributed to his politics and conviction.

Dr. Parenti wrote widely about class and power. His 1974 textbook, Democracy for the Few, interpreted American history through class struggle, and in Inventing Reality he argued that major news outlets promoted the interests of corporate owners. He was known for a feisty lecturing style and for views that blamed capitalism for domestic problems and U.S.

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