New Cities/New Soviets

May 17, 2004

Bill Hinton, R.I.P.

He was a giant, and he died last Saturday. He was one the few Americans to spend time in revolutionary China, and the record of his experiences, set down in the book Fanshen, is an invaluable resource.

You can read his story here. There is also a link (on the left) to a neat talk he gave at his 80th birthday celebration, about his struggle to get his notes for Fanshen back from the U.S. government during the McCarthy era.

I had the honor of seeing Bill Hinton speak in '97, at the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Cultural Revolution set up by the China Study Group.

He was way freakin' cool -- may he rest in peace while his memory continues to inflame our hopes for a better world.

Posted by Sam at May 17, 2004 09:42 PM

this guy was unequaled.
by any american "overseas theatre"
progressive
of his generation.
his grasp was wider
his penetration deeper.

agnes smedley
and the canadian bethune
those are members of his league

Posted by: pinky at May 18, 2004 09:29 AM

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