Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Remembering socialist poet and mental health activist David Kessel - (April 10 1947-March 7 2022)
ALAN MORRISON mourns a fellow poet and soulmate
MUCH LOVED: David Kessel
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
IT IS with deep sadness that I write of the death of lifelong poet and mental health activist David Kessel who passed away earlier this month aged 74.
I feel privileged to have known David, a deeply compassionate and greatly gifted poet, whose sheer humility was an example to us all in the poetry community.
David was much-loved, as was evidenced in a 2012 anthology of poems, Ravaged Wonderful Earth — A Collection for David Kessel, produced by Outsider Poets and Friends of East End Loonies (F.E.E.L.), two groups of which David was a promiment member.
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