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RIP Stuart Christie

z08nkb

Thinking of, and sending our deepest sympathies to, Stuart Christie's family on this day we say our goodbyes. This photo represents just a sliver of the work and impact Stuart had in editing, publishing and writing on the histories and ideas of anarchism. We could fill a room with it. Stuart's work was a monumental achievement that both allowed us to learn about the unknowns who brought anarchism to life as well as enabled us to redefine what anarchism was and could be. You are sorely missed, mate. Abrazos.
 
Kate Sharpley said:
z08nkb

Thinking of, and sending our deepest sympathies to, Stuart Christie's family on this day we say our goodbyes. This photo represents just a sliver of the work and impact Stuart had in editing, publishing and writing on the histories and ideas of anarchism. We could fill a room with it. Stuart's work was a monumental achievement that both allowed us to learn about the unknowns who brought anarchism to life as well as enabled us to redefine what anarchism was and could be. You are sorely missed, mate. Abrazos.
Click to expand...
There should be a celebration of his life when circumstances allow us to congregate again
 
"Stuart was a loyal fellow, loyal to an ideal, a cause and to his friends and comrades. But allow us to highlight something else from Stuart’s curriculum vitae. Above all else, this dyed-in-the-wool Scottish anarchist, was a kindly person, with a great sense of humour. Affable and approachable, fond of hearing and lending an ear. Who never hesitated to put a question when there was something he did not understand and who was constantly learning.

"The international anarchist movement has lost a great stalwart. And the loss of the man, the activist and the intellectual will be sorely felt."
Chris Ealham and Julián Vadillo Muñoz

Stuart Christie: In Memoriam
 
Stuart Christie BBC Current Account interview 1980 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Brian Barr reports on the background of anarchist Stuart Christie, who now lives on Sanday, Orkney. Gives a brief biography of Stuart Christie, why he moved to Orkney and what he thinks of the place. Christie discusses anarchism, Cienfuegos Press and the reason for publishing 'Towards a Citizens Militia'. The local alternative paper 'The Free Winged Eagle' is also mentioned. (Original broadcast BBC Current Account programme, 28 October 1980).
 
MayDay Rooms people fundraising for a Stuart Christie archive: Stuart Christie Memorial Archive, organised by Ron McKay

Stuart’s life may have been plastered with headlines, Britain’s most famous anarchist was the usual description, but the small print of it was what was important. His courage, imagination, his loyalty, not just to what he believed in, but to his friends and family, his remarkable intelligence, his self-deprecating, droll and spiky humour. He was a man of parts, each one of them remarkable.
To reveal the richness of Stuart’s life and the many histories he was a part of, we intend to establish a memorial archive in his name. The Stuart Christie Memorial Archive will be housed at the MayDay Rooms in Fleet Street in London.
This project has been brought together by his family, close friends and comrades and is supported by the MayDay Rooms collective. The memorial will include photographs, letters, personal mementoes, art works, his writings, as well as the output of his publishing arms, Cienfuegos Press, Christie Books and his Anarchist Film Archive.
The archive will also be available online. With the money raised from you, we will be employing a part-time archivist and researcher. Jessica Thorne, a doctoral researcher, whose work focuses on anarchist prisoners in Franco’s Spain, has already started work on the archive. Stuart’s daughter Branwen is contributing personal photographs and letters.
Much of the material will be new, including letters from Carabanchel prison in Spain where he was incarcerated after his failed attempt to assassinate the dictator Francisco Franco, as well as early childhood photographs. It will cover his involvement in the Angry Brigade trial, his period on Orkney – and his newspaper, the Free-Winged Eagle – with previously unseen photographs.
Stuart’s writing was prolific, including his ‘autobiography’ Granny Made Me An Anarchist, which was published by Scribner. That was the expurgated version, there were three previous volumes he published himself. Part of the memorial’s work will be to re-publish the three-part autobiography, as well as Pistoleros!, his trilogy, novel/memoir, the Chronicles of Farquhar McHarg.
An important part of the project will be to make the archive available online so that people throughout the world will be able to access it, to gain an insight into a life lived to the full, but also for study and research. Alongside the archive, the money raised from donations will help fund a series of educational events, addressing Stuart’s history and the histories of the movements he was involved in.
Depending on the amount of money raised, we are also hoping to commission an artist to create a physical memorial to Stuart. We are currently drafting designs for a secular, stained-glass window, which will be placed in the renamed Stuart Christie Library.
If we exceed our funding target, the collective will meet to discuss how we can expand the project further – or alternatively, re-allocate these funds to prisoner support groups/educational projects.
Finally, thanks are due to MayDay Rooms for readily making the space available and for their suggestions and insights and to the many, many friends and comrades throughout the world who have offered their help and suggestions.
There will be regular updates about the developments in the project as they occur.
Click to expand...
 
Stuart Christie's Life and Legacy w/ The Stuart Christ Memorial Archive

Jess Thorne joins us to discuss the life and passing of Stuart Christie, one of the UK's most famous anarchists who is perhaps best known for participating in a plot to assassinate Franco in 1964.

We also discuss the radical prisoner support group which Christie refounded, the memorial archive and the value of past struggles in informing our politics today.

Jess’s obituary of Christie: maydayrooms.org/stuart_christie/

You can give money to the archive fundraiser here:

uk.gofundme.com/f/stuart-christie-memorial-archive
 
We have posted a handful of Stuart's writings to mark the anniversary of his death. Also, we've been working on A Life for Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader (out later this year).

‘We hope this book will give you a sense of the richness and complexity of his life. We also hope it will act as a memorial, given that we haven’t been able to meet up and celebrate his life. […]

‘We know that this is not the final word on Stuart’s life. Seeing the materials that people are sharing with us and the Stuart Christie Memorial Archive, we feel as though we are constantly learning more. We hope this reader gives you a sense of the breadth of his experiences, and celebrates his humanity, his morality and his intuitive grasp of anarchism.’ (from the introduction)

More details Remembering Stuart Christie, one year on
 
From here:

Having weathered the pandemic almost intact, we can finally announce a date for the opening of the Stuart Christie Memorial Archive at the May Day Rooms in Fleet Street, London.

It will be at 7pm on Wednesday, June 22.

Because of the size of the venue there will need to be a limit on numbers, I'm afraid. It would help if people could indicate likeliness to attend, although it will not commit you now. It just helps in the planning. Once we have sorted the logistics there will be a proper invitation.

Anyway, put the date in your diary (does anyone still have a Filofax?) because it is going to be a cracking event. Details of what's in store will also follow.

Thoughts and thanks to you all.
 
Oh right. I just put some Stuart related stuff on Libcom this week:

The Factory For Peace – Stuart Christie

Christie writes under a pseudonym in 1964 about his time as a worker at Tom McAlpine's utopian "Factory For Peace" in Glasgow and the conditions and undemocractic practices there.
libcom.org libcom.org

libcom.org

Direct Action (SWF): Vol 5 #09 (39) Sept 1964

September 1964 issue of Direct Action including: Stuart Christie arrested in Spain, Merseyside dockers, rich people in the Labour party, freedom and the law, seaside sweatshops, Muslim seamen in South Shields, struggle for civil rights for black people in America.
libcom.org libcom.org

libcom.org

1968 and All That… - Stuart Christie

Stuart reflects on the 40 years since 1968. This article was originally a talk at the Aye Write festival in Glasgow. Photograph of Stuart Christie, London, 1968 courtesy of Kate Sharpley Library.
libcom.org libcom.org
 
hitmouse said:
From here:

Having weathered the pandemic almost intact, we can finally announce a date for the opening of the Stuart Christie Memorial Archive at the May Day Rooms in Fleet Street, London.

It will be at 7pm on Wednesday, June 22.

Because of the size of the venue there will need to be a limit on numbers, I'm afraid. It would help if people could indicate likeliness to attend, although it will not commit you now. It just helps in the planning. Once we have sorted the logistics there will be a proper invitation.

Anyway, put the date in your diary (does anyone still have a Filofax?) because it is going to be a cracking event. Details of what's in store will also follow.

Thoughts and thanks to you all.
Click to expand...
Article here about the exhibition, which opens soon.

www.theguardian.com

Anarchist, publisher, would-be assassin: exhibition documents life of Stuart Christie

Tribute to the revolutionary thinking of the Glaswegian writer jailed in Spain when a teenager for plotting to blow up Franco
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
mpg67g


A Life for Anarchy is now available from AK in Edinburgh: A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader - AKUK the European home of AK Press and Distribution
There are a couple of new reviews on the KSL site:
A living book : 'A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader' [book review] by Richard Warren
A living book : 'A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader' [book review]
and A ‘good example’: A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader [Book review] by Mark R. https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/w6mc21
 
Chris Ealham writes: "It’s almost two years since the Covid restrictions prevented me – and many, many others – from attending Stuart Christie’s funeral in person. This book provides a degree of solace. The Kate Sharpley Library Collective is to be commended for its industry and astuteness in carefully editing this collection of his writings spanning over a 56-year period. Anyone familiar with Stuart’s life and work will appreciate that this is no mean feat. After his acquittal in the Angry Brigade trial, in 1972, finding himself effectively blacklisted, Stuart threw himself into radical publishing, establishing the Cienfuegos Press, home to the ephemeral Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review. Along with his close comrade Albert Meltzer, Stuart brought new life to the rather jaded world of British anarchism and reasserted the proletarian values of anarcho-syndicalism. In later life, Stuart founded the Anarchist Film Archive as part of the Christie Books website. ... Immense enthusiasm and optimism : 'A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader' [book review]
 
'The journalist Ron McKay, who first knew of Stuart when his reason for appearing in the local Lanarkshire press was the length of his hair, recalls how when asked how he was, Stuart would always say things were “Tickety Boo”. And what better way to describe this rich, rambling, informative volume'
Duncan Campbell, The power of self-organisation: Stuart Christie and anarchy in the UK and beyond
 
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