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.)

Closer Links with Spain; Customs and Practice; Error and Terror; Satire; The Wooden Shoe; The Carrara Conference; The Vietnam Connection
Chapter XII Closer Links with Spain; Customs and Practice; Error and Terror; Satire; The Wooden Shoe; The Carrara Conference; The Vietnam Connection Closer Links with Spain Through my contacts I had always known about the Spanish Resistance, but usually when they were already on trial for their activities. During the darkest days I managed to throw the occasional lifebelt of solidarity or publicity, but it was not until the worst of the postwar civil genocide was over, and the resistance of 1939-63 was finally crushed by Franco's police that my links became really close. Francisco Gomez had always been secretive, probably because he did not wish to compromise me too much. Most of the exiles in London were as out of touch as I was. Sections ... (From : Hack.org.)

Barrack Room Lawyer Again; Twilight of Francosim; The Angry Brigade; Bitov What You Fancy; The Brief Morning of Anarchy; Trials and Tribulations
Chapter XVI Barrack Room Lawyer Again; Twilight of Francoism; The Angry Brigade; Bitov What You Fancy; The Brief Morning of Anarchy; Trials and Tribulations Barrack Room Lawyer Again When the Center was established in Haverstock Hill, Miguel and I plunged into a series of meetings up and down the country, and throughout Europe, speaking on behalf of the Spanish prisoners. We encountered a lot of enthusiasm on behalf of the Resistance, and this coincided with a rise in industrial resistance at home, so I was kept busy. Fleet Street printworkers usually worked a seven-day week, and a lot of my spare time was devoted to bringing out Black Flag and working for the Black Cross, all voluntary. It may sound impossible, but a lot can be achieved wi... (From : Hack.org.)

The Execution of Puig Antich; the 'Newer Angry Brigades': The Bookie Always Wins; Affinity Groups; Persons Unknown; The Protest Movement
Chapter XIX The Execution of Puig Antich; The 'Newer Angry Brigades'; The Bookie Always Wins; Affinity Groups; Persons Unknown; The Protest Movement The Execution of Puig Antich Among the circle of anarchist activists who gathered in London around Miguel Garcia in the early days of the Centro Iberico had been Salvador Puig Antich. As a student he had been a Catalan Nationalist and social revolutionary, but the briefest study of Catalan history brings one to anarcho-syndicalism. It is odd to reflect that if he had stayed with his original beliefs, on his death the press would have referred to him as an Anarchist. As it was he was described as a "Catalan Nationalist". He accompanied Miguel Garcia and myself on two of our speaking tours, and t... (From : Hack.org.)

Auto Destruction; At the Old Bailey; Witness of the Persecution; Fun and Games at the Gulag; The Most Distressful Country; After the Storm; Irish Association; The Murrays
Chapter XVII Auto Destruction; At the Old Bailey; Witness of the Persecution; Fun and Games at the Gulag; The Most Distressful Country; After the Storm; Irish Association; The Murrays Auto Destruction International Socialists, later styling themselves the Socialist Workers Party (or in Trotskyist terms, "State Caps") often finished up writing books about the Left in which their superficial student involvement was less than serviceable. One named David Widgery, later a doctor and a bitter Marxist sectarian, not to be confused with his relative Lord Chief Justice Widgery until the SWP should take power on Tibb's Eve, and dying too soon for that anyway, referred to me in his book as an "ex-boxer and auto-destructive artist". It wasn't until af... (From : Hack.org.)

Bookselling; The Thetford Pain; Bookselling, the Lack Of; Tales of the Housing Acts; The New Left; Squatting; International Spy
CHAPTER VII Bookselling; The Thetford Pain; Bookselling, the Lack of; Tales of the Housing Acts; The New Left; Squatting; International Spy Bookselling In the course of eighteen months the premises on the upper floors of 374 Grays Inn Road had become increasingly grottier. It had needed total re-wiring when the finance company moved out. The next sub-lessees, Levene and his original partner Bush, who had since disappeared, had not a shilling's worth of capital between them. Even the structure of the building was unsound, which was one of the reasons commercial firms were not interested in the vacant offices available for sub-letting. The council was, not unreasonably, pressing for something to be done by the next lessee in line, whoever he ... (From : Hack.org.)