HUNGRY GERALD

May Day has come and gone—quietly. This wasn’t the case in HG’s New York youth. It was the occasion for big. loud labor union rallies. It was the day when all leftists (Socialists, Communists, Trotskyites, Democrats like the late Vito Marcantonion and late Leo Isaacson) screamed insults at each other with resulting fisticuffs. The most fiery orator of the day was Ben Gold, the Communist leader of the Fur and Leather Workers Union. His speeches were in Yiddish and a target of his sharp voice was the Yiddish socialist newspaper, the Forward (“Furvertz”). HG’s beloved late father read and loved that paper. He was a Socialist` and in his Russian youth, a member of the  Jewish Labor Bund. Upon his arrival in America he —like his “landsman” David Dubinsky—was a stalwart battler for the ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union.). At one point, my father’s (sometimes violent) efforts put his life in danger and he and family left New York (via horse and wagon piloted by my father) for the Ohio farm of HG’s maternal Aunt Fanny. They returned to New York when things cooled down.(his year on the farm gave him and my mom a lifelong affectiôn for square dancîng). My father despised Ben Gold. He labeled Gold with an obscene Yiddish insult. He called Gold “Ah Stalin tuchis lecker–A licker of Stalin’s ass”) The FBiI tried to imprison Gold but failed. He retired. Lived quietly in Miami Beach, among many old Jews. Wrote poetry and novels. No politics. The Ludlow coal mine site is 18 miles northwest of the city of Trinidad, Colorado. This was where “The Ludlow Massacre” took place on April 20, 1914. Striking coal miners and their families were living in tents. The mine owners hired a detective agency that raked the tents with rifle and machine gun fire. Most of the miners were of Greek origin. Many strikers were killed as well as a number of women and children. The site is now owned by the United Mine Workers, and a granite monument has been erected honoring the strikers. When HG/BSK were living in Colorado they passed the site on their highway travels. HG/BSK belonged to labor unions—HG (Newspaper Guild) and BSK (Actors Equity). When they came to Ludlow they raised their fists and shouted: “Solidarity, brothers and sisters!! Solidarity forever!!”.