William Blum died at age 85. It was announced on Democracy Now and on Loud
and Clear. I never would have known who he was except for the fact that
several years ago, for some reason unknown to me, his Anti Empire Report
appeared in my inbox. He was clearly a descenting voice, someone who had
very independent views and who, sometimes, if only very occasionally,
expressed opinions that might be to the right of where most of the Left was.
I never knew when the reports would come. They appeared irregularly. But
they were always fascinating. Only one of his books is on Bookshare, and I
did read it when I first learned of his existence. About 2 months ago, I
received a communication that indicated that he was ill and needed funds for
medical treatment. I sent a little bit of money, something I almost never do
these days because there are so many worthy causes and because I need to
finance my own care and some of my younger daughter's expenses. But I felt
like William Blum might not have a large number of fans andI had so much
appreciated his intelligence and perceptions. Amy Goodman said that he died
in hospice care. I hope he had people who cared about him, surrounding him
at the end.
Miriam
