Category Archives: Memoir Editing and Publishing

What it’s like to edit and publish a memoir of someone who’s been dead for several decades.

Phoenix Rising: A Spanish Boy in War Torn Spain and the Canadian Soldier Who Saved His Life (3 min read)

It first happened in January 2018. I was at a dinner party hosted by my friend, Katrina, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Katrina had steered the conversation towards my plans to publish my father’s memoir which is primarily about his experience of the depression of the 1930s and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

I was telling the other guests a bit about him, when a fellow Canadian asked, “What was your father’s name?”  I said, “Jim Higgins.” He replied, “I’m sure I just heard about him on the news.”  I said, “Impossible!” and promptly forgot about it.

Continue reading →
The raised fist salute of the Republicans countered the flat-palmed salute of Franco's fascists.

“Fighting for Democracy: The True Story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982), A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War” TBP August 2020

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

Continue reading →

Hounded by the RCMP

I received Jim Higgins’s RCMP file in Spring 2019 under a Freedom of Information request. Not only did the Royal Canadian Mounted Police file document many of his activities during the Great Depression, and after, it also held an intriguing glimpse into his romantic life, a couple of years before he met his wife, Reta Palliser.

Continue reading →

The “007 Stuff”

“Just the facts, ma’am.” That line came from Dragnet—a 1950s TV show with detective Joe Friday. I was reminded of it a few months ago when retired academic Ray Hoff, one of my invaluable fact-checkers, cautioned me against speculating about what Jim Higgins was up to in the Spanish Civil War, especially after the international brigades were withdrawn. I was advised to “forget the 007 stuff”. Good advice. Still……

Continue reading →

Who was Captain Medina?

“Captain Medina was the sort of officer soldiers dream about commanding them, but seldom do. I had been in some tough situations with him, and we saved one another’s lives more than once. I was shifted around so much that most of the time I did not know where I was or who the comrades were who were fighting with me. He was a constant presence, and I will always consider him the best officer I had alongside me in battle.” Jim Higgins

Higgins reported to Captain Jose Medina for much of the time he was in Spain and, in his soon-to-be-published memoir, writes about one of those times when Medina (and his horse) probably saved his life when he was caught behind enemy lines. Besides the serious business of saving each other’s lives, Medina once figured in a humorous incident involving Higgins.

Continue reading →

Deciphering Jim Higgins

“The volunteers, led by Cecil-Smith and Jim Higgins, the commissar for the trip home, marched onto the stage to thunderous applause.” 

Really? It made sense to me that Edward Cecil-Smith would be leading. He was the battalion commander. But Jim Higgins?

Continue reading →

Reflections on being 75

Today is my birthday. My 75th. I’m not telling you this to garner birthday greetings, but rather to reflect on the fact that Jim Higgins was 75 when he died. He’d been frail and failing for several years by then, and writing what is mostly the first draft of his memoir during that time was all he could handle.

Continue reading →

Tantalizing Threads to Pursue

Time for an editing update. Since I joined the social media crowd in August, some intriguing information has come to light about my father’s time in the Spanish Civil War. As I tease things out, with help from people I’ve met online, it seems that Jim Higgins was no ordinary soldier.

At first, when I heard him comment on one of his audiotapes, that he “wasn’t the average guy”, or that he “knew things others didn’t”, I pushed it aside. I knew deep down these weren’t idle comments, but I didn’t have any evidence of what he meant. If anything, he underplayed his role in his memoir, so no help there.

Now, it turns out, his cryptic comments mean something. 

Continue reading →

Message from Madrid

Last October, I dropped everything, and went to Spain. I had reached a point in editing my father’s memoir, where I felt stuck. I had many questions, and few answers.

I thought I might find some answers in Spain. More than that, I was compelled to see the place in Corbera d’Ebre where my father, Jim Higgins, rescued Manuel Alvarez.

Continue reading →

Jason Webster, Author of Guerra, Says Jim Higgins’ Memoir is a Key Read…

I must have loads of chutzpah*. When I chose my second round of beta readers, I went right to the top. One is a senior librarian at the University of Toronto and three are academics/authors in fields directly relevant to Jim Higgins’ memoir.

Continue reading →