Green Left Weekly's $250,000 Fighting Fund: Salt of the earth

Tom Lewis, 83, is a long-time Green Left Weekly subscriber in a small town between Bundaberg and Gin Gin, Queensland. His eyesight is rapidly failing and he can no longer read. But last week he renewed his subscription to the paper and made a $100 donation to our fighting fund.

"This is a helluva conservative place but I sneak the Green Left into the local library and leave it with the other papers so that others can read it", he told me over the phone. "Maybe somebody might wake up. You never know."

Tom has been a rebel all his life and he's not about to give up the struggle for a better world. He was expelled from the Labor Party in Sydney in the 1950s for "speaking out against an endorsed Labor candidate", a supporter of the notorious right-wing Groupers led by Bob Santamaria.

He then joined the Communist Party of Australia and was an active unionist and a regular speaker at the famous Sydney Domain speakers' corner. He's been a militant union delegate in the mines at Mount Isa, and in the sugar and construction industries in Queensland. His efforts for his fellow workers have been rewarded by the bosses banning him from work in those industries.

When I asked Tom to share his story with readers, he protested that he was "no one special". Tom's mistaken there. He's the special kind of person who keeps GLW going — the salt of the earth. He is an inspiration to the rest of us.

Please help Tom keep GLW afloat. This week we raised $3257, bringing our total for the year to $74,026. That's 30% of our $250,000 target. You can help us make that target by depositing a donation to the GLW Fighting Fund at: Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, Account No. 901992. Alternatively, send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007, phone it through on the toll-free line at 1800 634 206 (within Australia), or donate online at http://www.greenleft.org.au/fogl.htm.

If you have another story about the very special people who support GLW please contact me on peterb@greenleft.org.au, or ring the toll-free number above.

From GLW issue 711