"Fiddle and Fight is the story of Russell Brodine's life in music - from high school in Seattle, to studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, through his many years in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. While he fiddled at his double bass, he joined with other symphony musicians to fight for better working conditions, for equality for women musicians, and for symphonic ranks.".

"The story begins in Spokane, Washington, in 1912, when Russell was born to Swedish immigrant parents. It carries us through a childhood when a boy too small to play the cello eventually took up the double bass. He rode the rails to school in Philadelphia during the Depression. Marriage to Virginia Warner was followed by a move to Los Angeles and work in the shipyards during the war, playing in the film studios, and classical music jobs in Salt Lake City, Portland, Colorado, and finally St. Louis.

Family life and a remarkable living alliance with an African-American couple, Walter and Essie Johnson, are also an important part of this life."--BOOK JACKET.