Exciting news! The Spanish edition of Jim Higgins’ book, Luchando por la Democracia, has just been published by the University of Zaragoza Press (PUZ), AND I’ve just made plans to be in Spain from October 14 through November 8 to celebrate.  It’s all happened rather quickly.

Buy the Spanish edition here.

And, no, other than limited vocabulary, I haven’t magically learned to speak and read Spanish. I have gone through this whole process with crucial help from Google translate AND from the ‘stranger in Spain,’ Juan Jose Ibanez, who translated Fighting for Democracy.

Juan Jose has been with me every step of the way. He has gone above and beyond as he continues with his mitzvah to thank Jim Higgins and other Canadians who volunteered to fight in the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion in Spain. See here and here. The ‘stranger in Spain’ is a stranger no longer and I look forward to meeting him in San Sebastian on my trip.

Early in September, Juan Jose submitted the final galleys and, I, the index with page numbers assigned. Earlier, in July, we had collaborated for 2.5 weeks, going over the first galleys looking for glitches in the translation. At the same time, I prepared the index in Spanish, a hair-pulling  exercise even when you understand the language.

Our discussions ranged from things like Spanish slang for ‘urine’ to the best Spanish word for ‘commons,’ the place where Jim played football as a boy in England. There was many a tweak, possibly to the chagrin of the publisher. I am eternally grateful for Juan Jose’s commitment to see this through. As he remarked, we make an ‘awesome team.’

And now with my trip to Spain, I have a whole crew, who are excitedly setting up events and accommodating me in existing happenings in up to ten towns and cities around Spain. I’ve met them all through Facebook. Pinch me!

In the meantime, the English edition of the eBook continues to be available in all formats online but the paperback is only available from me through my website. I have way too many books for my small apartment so I need all the help I can get: with Covid, I was unable to do in-person events for the English edition when it was first published and now, two years later, the time has passed. Information about purchasing the English edition of Fighting for Democracy here.

To now, all proceeds from the book have been donated to food banks. Going forward, I’m taking heed of my brother’s advice to replenish my own ‘bank’—aka retirement savings—which were seriously eroded when I self-published the English edition and are about to take another hit with my trip to Spain.

This post is also to let followers of my blog know that much of what I post going forward will be in Spanish as I pivot to reach Spanish speakers with Jim Higgins’ story.

My passion for getting my father’s story out there remains undiminished.

Janette