In his new book, Exploring the Thought of Jane Jacobs: The Conversation of Cities (Hamilton Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026), Richard Keeley brings urbanologist Jane Jacobs’ thoughts on cities, nations, and economies into dialogue with today’s urban challenges. Jacobs, who died in 2006, was an influential theorist and activist whose most well-known work is the book The Death and Life Great American Cities. With careful attention to context, Keeley explores Jacobs’ understanding of streets and neighborhoods in cities great and small and her vision of the city as an organism extended through generations. He examines her theories on the dynamics of economic development, the ethics of the workplace, and the difficulties of ethical business practice. The book concludes with a reflection in Jacobsian terms on the need for a politics of place spanning generations. Keeley, who retired from Boston College in 2018, served as Carroll School of Management senior associate dean and director of programs for the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics at Boston College. It was during Keeley’s tenure as director (1975-1991) of BC’s PULSE Program for Service Learning that he stuck up a long-standing correspondence with Jacobs and convinced her to speak at a symposium on campus. She returned to BC multiple times and donated an extensive collection of her papers, which are housed in the Burns Library.