I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels

Appendix II
On Black Flag collective editorial board from its inception 22 years ago until now. There have been some thirty editors all told, all unpaid, usually a minimum of four at one time. The paper was at various times fortnightly, monthly, and is at present quarterly, though recently it has had some timelag holdups for various reasons. Currently honorary contributing researcher for the Kate Sharpley Library. One of the founders of the Anarchist Black Cross (as reconstituted in the 60's) as a political prisoners support group. A member of the anarcho-syndicalist Solidarity Federation (formerly Direct Action Movement), affiliated to the International Workers Association, and functions secretary of the Red & Black Club, Deptford (a local). Writings include:The Floodgates of Anarchy (with Stuart Christie) The Anarchists in London Anarchism: Arguments For and Against The Origins of the Anarc... (From : Hack.org.)

Appendix I
Appendix I In telling my own story it was necessary to jerk forwards and backwards, not least because of the illegal confiscation of my notebooks and diaries by police on three different occasions, and also to keep a flow to the narrative. For the historical record this chronology of Anglo-Spanish Anarchist associations might be useful. 1934 -- Asturias rising; the last ditch stand at Casas Viejas and first Spanish Prisoners committee in London, whose first secretary was Matilda Green, later Ralph Barr. 1936 -- Civil war and revolution in Spain. Italian group in London begins Spain and the World, editor Vernon Richards. Emma Goldman forms CNT-FAI London Committee and made representative of CNT-FAI Exterior Propaganda London bureau. 1939 -- End of civil war. Formation of Solidaridad Internacional Anti-fascista for aid of refugees; short-lived existence in London organized by... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 30 : The Final Curtain
Chapter XXX The Final Curtain A lot of old friends died in recent years. What can one expect? I can no longer snap my fingers at the advance of years. The sell-by date has gone already. I have done my best. Some of my mates had big sendoffs. With some their families had the last word and kept their passing confined to the family circle. Sometimes, in Europe or in Northern Ireland, Catholic and/or Protestant relatives and atheist friends had to battle out their differences. Joe Thomas dying in his eighties of throat cancer, after sixty years of smoking forty cigarettes a day, told me on his deathbed that while that may not have helped, he blamed his employers of thirty years before, as he felt it was due to an old fall down a rickety flight of stairs. He expected an argument to the last. Being related to Britain's No.1. evangelist, Dick Saunders and knowing that at any family ceremony where he couldn't have the last word himself, his brother-in-... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 29 : Looking Back; State Over Health; The Slump (Second Act); Act in the Court; Police in the State; Looking Forward
Chapter XXIX Looking Back; State Over Health; The Slump (Second Act); Act in the Court; Police in the State; Looking Forward Looking Back In the dark days of the War the public wanted to be told something of what they were fighting for, rather than against, which even so was not always clear For instance, were they to wipe out the Germans -- all of them -- or just the Nazis? Those who said the former were vociferous admirers of pre-war Germany and later of postwar Germany, but during the war they preferred to discredit ordinary Germans. No such distinction was made between Mikadoist and Japanese -- all "Japs" were blamed equally, which meant the leadership not at all. All the Emperor lost in defeat was his divinity. Was the war perhaps just one sort of fascism against other more virulent breeds? Was it for capitalism and imperialism against capitalism and have-not imperialism? A few thought powerful empires could disintegrate and capit... (From : Hack.org.)

Chapter 28 : My Discovery of Sweden; The Schism; 'Nordic Anarchism': Weekend in Macedonia
Chapter XXVIII My Discovery of Sweden; The Schism; 'Nordic Anarchism'; Weekend in Macedonia My Discovery of Sweden It was as long ago as 1938 that I first contacted the Swedish anarchist movement. From 1938 until 1940 I was the London correspondent of Brand, then under the editorship of C. J. Bjorklund. I fully intended to learn Swedish and keep in contact. I broke off contact for obvious reasons. I postponed learning the language until late 1991, quite a gap for good intentions. Maybe by the time I speak it I will find an angel who speaks only Swedish, or be able to converse with the divine Greta in her own tongue. At the time they translated the articles from English and persuaded me to learn Esperanto instead. I learned it quickly and forgot it quickly. I found this a blind alley, linguists speaking to linguists rather than nations to nations. What I liked about the Swedish movement was the way it recognized anarchism... (From : Hack.org.)

Lucky Strike; Direct Action Years; Poll Tax; The Battle of Trafalgar Square; Class War; Leo
Chapter XXV Lucky Strike; Direct Action Years; Poll Tax; The Battle of Trafalgar Square; Class War; Leo Lucky Strike After I returned from Venice, I realized I wanted to move out of my Greenwich council flat, which felt desecrated by the police raid on it. Those who have experienced burglaries feel the same way. I also realized that the way Fleet Street was going, I should soon be out on my ear. I was approaching retirement age, and had nothing whatever to show for my years of work. Had the kidnapping trial been for months rather than days, I would have been homeless, though acquitted. I looked around to buy a home, realizing wryly that had I been prudent I would now be thinking of the last payments of a mortgage rather than starting from s... (From : Hack.org.)

Back in the Old Routine; The Spanish Resistance; The 374 Monster; Ruling the Waves; Three Minute Celebrity
Chapter VI Back in the Old Routine; The Spanish Resistance; The 374 Monster; Ruling the Waves; Three Minute Celebrity Back in the old routine I was now at the break in life routine and at the age when enthusiasm tends to wane, and if one carries on any longer one becomes known as a 'veteran'. Stubbornness carried the day against the advice that it was certainly now 'high time to settle down' as my family and friends said in principle and most of my contemporaries were doing in practice. Any pretense of there being an anarchist movement had collapsed with the effects of the 'split'. Most of my previous political colleagues had gone into purely trade union activity rather despairing of any chance of other activity in the drab era we were faci... (From : Hack.org.)

The Iberian Liberation Council; How the Thames Was Lost
Chapter IX The Iberian Liberation Council; How the Thames Was Lost The Iberian Liberation Council In one of many visits to Spain prior to the death of the dictator, talking with old friends of the Resistance about how our mutual affairs were going, I was pessimistic about the British scene. I told Melchita sadly, "There'll never be another Billy Campbell". Events proved me wrong. There were many in the younger generation of Spanish exiles, sons and daughters of the first wave of the emigration, who were taking a hard look at the facts of the Resistance. As there was an inrooted determination not to split the Spanish movement, the FIJL (Libertarian Youth), which had always had an independent existence within the CNT-FAI, preserved itself as ... (From : Hack.org.)

The Spy, the Royalist and a Last Farewell; The Freedom of the Press; Admonition; Old Flame and New Floods
Chapter X The Spy, the Royalist and a Last Farewell; The Freedom of the Press; Admonition; Old Flame and New Floods The Spy, the Royalist and a Last Farewell When I walked away from the remnants of my bookshop venture I was head over heels in debt and somewhat inclined to curse, like Thenardier, the wretched place 'where they all had such royal sprees and I devoured my all like a fool', not that the All came to very much, and I had enjoyed myself at times. I had never been able to shake off the legacy of the 374 Monster and by the time I had paid off its debts those of the bookshop had mounted. For months I had been stunned by the tragic death of Evie, with whom I had a long association. She crashed her car in Wales returning from a trade s... (From : Hack.org.)

FOREWORD In spite of the self-effacing sub-title, the life of Albert Meltzer has been far from "commonplace". It is a witty account of the never-ending and tireless struggle -- sometimes Herculean, sometimes Schvejkian -- against the hydra-headed nonentities who seek to impose their order and their certainties on the universe. Since his schooldays, throughout his working life and now in "retirement", anarchism has been the guiding star which has fueled Albert's thankfully incurable and infectious optimism and faith in the ultimate common sense of humanity. He is a worker, was active in trade unionism, a tireless but unpaid editor, a traveler, a public speaker and a challenger of humbug. His character, ideas, good humor (mostly) and generosi... (From : Hack.org.)