THE VOLUNTEER, WINTER 1997-98 21
Moving obit of Conlon Nancarrow
Your obituary of Conlon Nancarrow moved me deeply.
He was one of the few fellows I really wanted to contact
after getting back to the states. But my laziness, absorp-
tion in my own affairs and general incompetence wedged
more than half a century between then and now. And now,
of course, it is too late. And possibly too late to contact
Owen Smith, Gene Loveman and Ben Richman, others I
returned from Spain intending to contact.
I found a reference to Conlon in the manuscript of my
as yet unpublished memoir of the fighting in Spain which,
although its emphasis is on my experience with the
Partisans, does, in the beginning, cover our training in
Madrigueras and Tarazona, the disaster of Mosquito Ridge,
the attack at Quinto del Ebro where I was wounded and
my stint as a cadre officer back in Tarazona, where I met
Conlon again. The reference:
"... and a fascinating fellow named Conlon Nancarrow, a
musical prodigy who had composed a sonata Toscanini had con-
ducted. Conlon was about my equal in chess and a self-proclaimed
master coffee brewer. He described a contraption of his own cre-
ation that almost filled an entire room in which various types of
coffee beans were individually distilled, then blended into what he
claimed to be the world's most perfect cup of coffee. Against which
I described how it had been my custom to drill lengthwise holes
into corn cobs, fill them with butter, plug the openings, then roast
them, thus getting the unmessiest ears of internally buttered corn
possible. Of course, neither believed the other."
He was an intelligent, witty, gentle and elegant fellow.
I sincerely regret the half-century I wasted not contacting
him. Salud,
Mort Wolson, Laguna Hills, California
A shot in the arm
I have received your Volunteer issue of the Spring of
'97 for which I am very thankful. Each Volunteer gives us
veterans a shot in the arm.The anniversary of the war and
the Homage paid to the International Brigades should have
been utilized for bringing up the youth of Russia in a mili-
tant anti-fascist militant spirit, but our powers that be and
our mass media thought otherwise. The good done by and
in the Soviet Union has been negatively lumped with the
bad. But sooner or later the truth will prevail.
Last spring, our "Spanish" veterans had a reunion to
mark the anniversary of the war and the homage paid to
the International Brigade. Some one hundred of our
"Spaniards" gathered on the premises of the Russian War
Veterans Committee, together with family members and a
few school children in order to relive the past. In their '70s
and '80s, mostly grey-haired, covered with military orders
and medals won during the Great Patriotic War, they still
preserve the militant anti-fascist spirit of the '30s.
Sasha and I are "still on our feet" she is now 87, I am
89. True, we walk slower and my hearing is not too good.
But we look optimistically at what is going on here and
hope for the best. The people of Russia are hard-working,
sensible and extremely patient.
We send all the American vets our best wishes. Salud,
Percy Ludwick, Moscow
Tribute to a mentor
It was sad to read in the summer 1997 issue of The
Volunteer of the passing of Robert Colodny. I would like to
make the enclosed contribution of $150 in his memory. He
was my mentor.
Robert Colodny taught me more than history. He
taught me, by his personal example, the necessity to con-
front power for oppression with power for mutuality. And
that took organization, commitment, and possibly sacrifice.
He taught me not to opt out because the going would be
tough, not to wait for someone else to do the job, but to find
a fulcrum to ease the world closer to mutuality.
The world still has need of those like Robert Colodny
and all who are willing to put themselves on the line for
the sake of one human community. Saludos,
Willard C. Frank, Jr., Norfolk VA
Appreciation for
The Volunteer
It is always with great pleasure that we receive The
Volunteer. Unfortunately, my husband, who is one of the few
(19) Dutch brigadistas still alive, cannot read anymore because
of his bad eyes, but I always tell him most of the contents.
Here in Holland we don't have a regular written con-
tact with the friends [Asociación de Amigos de las Brigadas
Internacionales], but I serve as the intermediary with
Madrid. Recently we received a call for financial solidarity
with the comrades in Bulgaria and Rumania and we were
able to send them some money. We are planning to make
this help more structured and to draw more people into it.
[See box for U.S. vets' action on this emergency -- Editors]
In the name of all the Dutch comrades we wish you
health and strength in the coming year.
Giny Klatser-Oedekerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Would like to know more
We are thankful and thank your organization for hav-
ing sent us The Volunteer. Naturally we'd like to receive it
and thus to know more of your problems and deeds.
General Victor Lavsky, President, Association of
Soviet Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
Boulevard Gogol, Moscow
Culling the mail sack
Solidarity, East and West
The New York VALB office voted to send the
Asociación de las Brigadas Internacionales $1,000 in
relief funds for the destitute IB veterans and their fami-
lies in Romania and Bulgaria. More aid will be made
available in the future.
The VALB San Francisco Bay Area Post also
responded with an act of solidarity. Twenty-two Lincoln
vets, family members and associates on the West Coast
contributed $1,450 for their comrades in Eastern Europe.
