Jim Higgins defied Canadian law to fight for democracy in the Spanish Civil War. On return, he was branded a communist, hounded by the RCMP, and welcomed by Lincoln Battalion comrades when he sought refuge in New York.
“I was riveted. There are few workers’ memoirs as excellent…engaging, informative, and very well written.” James L. Turk, Centre for Free Expression, Ryerson University and Author, Free Speech in Fearful Times
“The fact that (Jim) was involved in secret ops makes this book particularly memorable…a key read for historians looking for new details of the Battle of the Ebro.” Jason Webster, Author, Violencia: A New History of Spain
Jim was born in London in 1907, orphaned during WWI, schooled in Manchester and Bristol, and sailed to Canada at twenty-one. During the Great Depression, employers blacklisted him for union organizing, the RCMP added him to their radical files for relief camp “agitating,” and he was jailed briefly when the Regina Riot ended the On-To-Ottawa Trek.
By 1937, he was with the International Brigades in Spain; a machine gunner in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion—the Mac-Paps. Forty years later, he was found by Manuel Alvarez, a boy whose life he’d saved during the bombing of Corbera d’Ebre. Manuel’s 1980 book, The Tall Soldier (El Soldat Alto), paid tribute.
The RCMP saw Jim Higgins as a radical, people whose lives he saved saw him as a hero, and for one of his actions in Spain he was described as “extraordinarily brave.”
Jim Higgins saw himself as an anti-fascist, a social democrat, and an independent thinker. Readers will form their own opinions.
About the Author
Jim Higgins wrote part of his story in 1939 in Saskatoon and the rest in 1977 in Peterborough, where he died in 1982. It lay fallow until his daughter, Janette Higgins, organized it into coherence with additional biographical detail. Janette has a B.A. in the Sociology of Work from the University of Toronto and has written six acclaimed B&B guides. She lives in Toronto.
Now Published
Fighting for Democracy: The True Story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982), A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War (2020) can be ordered here.
Fighting for Democracy by Jim Higgins is the latest book about the Mac-Paps, Canadians in the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion, which was part of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Other books about Canadians in the Spanish Civil War include Not For King or Country by Tyler Wentzell , Mac-Pap by Ronald Liversedge with David Yorke and Renegades by Michael Petrou.
Please let me know when it is available.
Thanks so much for your interest, Brian! If you follow my blog or like my Facebook Page @jimhigginsmemoir, you’ll be among the first to know.
Hello Brian, I’m not sure if you subscribe to my blog. If you do, then you will know the book is available. If not, I hope this reaches you.
It’s exciting to see the memoir nearing publication. Dad would be proud of you for your dedication and perseverance in organizing and providing context for the record he left. I believe It is an important addition to the record of Canadian history, from one who lived it.
Thanks, Susan! The more I got into it, the more I realized just how much his story reflects Canadian history.
So rewarding Janette for your family and your family’s amazing story! Likewise significant for expanding Canadian historiography of the 1930s, such an important decade to understand in the present, given the trends.
Peter.
Thanks Peter. The good news is it’s timely. The bad news is it’s timely.
Hi Janette,
I am looking forward to May already!
Me, too! It’s been a long haul.
Tenacity is surely a trait that you and Dad share, Janette. I’m grateful for yours or his story would have been lost to history. I know you’ve invested the past 2 or 3 years of your time, energy and passion plus a lot of detective work to bring this to fruition. Bravo Janette!
Dad (and Mum) would be proud and grateful that you persevered in your quest to get this book into the public realm…especially considering it’s relevance today.
Thanks for your vote of confidence, Barbara!
I’ve been enjoying your blog for more than a year now, Jeanette, and am really looking forward to reading the book. It makes me wish Uncle Jim was still alive. There are many, many, questions and political discussions I would love to have with him. I never understood the depth of his life experiences. Thank you for doing this work. I can’t wait to read it.
So glad to hear from you, Kathryn. None of us understood the depth of his life experience! Even in the last few days I’ve learned more. I remember him and your father really getting into it with their political “discussions.” At least I think they were political… I was way too young to know.