Mientras visito la Región del Ebro, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Valencia y Madrid del 14 de octubre al 17 de noviembre de 2022, pienso en esta primera vez que visité cuando no sabía nada de mi padre.
***This piece was first published in English in September 2021***
Continue readingEste artículo se publicó en inglés en julio de 2020. Se tradujo con Google Translate y publicado el 12 de octubre de 2022. Luchando por La Democracia de Jim Higgins fue publicado por PUZ el 27 de septiembre de 2022.
***This piece was published in English in July 2020***
Sucedió por primera vez en enero de 2018. Estaba en una cena organizada por mi amiga Katrina en San Miguel de Allende, México. Katrina había dirigido la conversación hacia mi proyecto de publicar las memorias de mi padre, ahora previstas para el otoño de 2020 y tituladas Fighting for Democracy: The True Story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982), A Canadian Activist in Spain’s Civil War. (Actualización: el libro se publicó en septiembre de 2020).
Les estaba contando a los otros invitados un poco sobre él, cuando un compañero canadiense preguntó: “¿Cómo se llamaba tu padre?” Dije: “Jim Higgins”. Él respondió: “Estoy seguro de que acabo de escuchar sobre él en las noticias”. Dije: “¡Imposible!”. y rápidamente se olvidó de él.
Continue readingIt 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.
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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.
Continue reading“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
There will be those who question how I went about editing a memoir written by someone long dead. Did I put words in his mouth? Did I change his voice? How did I deal with the inevitable, questions, puzzles and mistakes.
It happened, first, in January, 2018. I was at a dinner party in San Miguel de Allende. The host had steered the conversation towards my plans to publish my father’s 1930s memoir.
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 pretty sure I just heard about him on the news.” I said, “Impossible!”, and promptly forgot about it.