From: Robert Helms [mailto]gpzero@earthlink.net[/mailto]
Hello Friends, Relatives, and Comrades,
I'm writing to announce with delight that my book, which has been in the works for about 15 years, has just been released, and I received copies in the mail today. I'm so happy right now that I want to tell the world about it without delay. The book is:
Forty Years In The Struggle: The Memoirs of a Jewish Anarchist
by Chaim Leib Weinberg
Translated by Naomi Cohen
Edited and Annotated by Robert P. Helms
Published by Litwin Books (Duluth, Minnesota, 2009)
[Sponsored in part by Wooden Shoe Books]
Chaim Weinberg (1861-1939) was an anarchist of Philadelphia who wrote his memoirs in 1930. The book was published in Yiddish in 1952 and remained quite obscure ever since. Today old Chaim's have been released from the chains of time, with his funny stories of his public speeches to working people, his grandfatherly way of remembering the distant past, his qualities and his forgivable flaws. Weinberg would arrive in an auditorium to give a speech to Jewish strikers, and the audience would giggle as he approached the podium, and the organizers would cringe --because the man was funny-looking. Then, as he began to speak, he would hold their hearts in the palm of his hand, giving them tears or wild laughter at will.
The only regret that I have regarding this book is that I did not dedicate it to my mentor and friend Paul Avrich (nor anyone), who passed away in 2006. Without Paul, none of these things could possibly have happened.
I hope that all of you are healthy and well!
With Love and Solidarity,
Bob Helms