Supplementary > July 6, 2005

A Lifelong Debt

By Barbara Ehrenreich

I first met Jimmy Weinstein in about 1964, through my then-boyfriend Marty Sklar, who was an editor, with Jimmy, of the journal Studies on the Left. As a 23-year-old political naif, I was baffled by the gender exclusiveness of the Studies’ crowd—which was far worse in this respect than my parents’ rather conventional social set—but also fascinated by their intelligence and zeal. I do remember that Jimmy always spoke to me more or less as an equal, which meant a lot to me at the time. A couple of years later, after undergoing my own radicalization in the nascent anti-war movement, I went to work (as a volunteer) with a New York-based group called Committee for Independent Political Action, started by Jimmy and Stanley Aronowitz, where my job was to go door-to-door in a low-income Hispanic neighborhood. Believe me, I learned a lot more from the folks whose doors I knocked on than they did from me. And of course, I continued to learn from Jimmy.

When he started In These Times he took a huge risk by giving me a column. That was my first regular outlet, and my chance to flex my talons as a satirist. Eventually I went on in search of something that would help pay the bills, but my debt to Jimmy remains.

• subscribe to print magazine

  First Name Last Name Home Address City State Zip Code Email

  2-year, 24-issues, $44.95 1-year, 12-issue, $24.95

• stay in touch with our email newsletter

  Subscribe to our regular weekly e-mail newsletter. It's packed with updates on recent and upcoming stories, events, campaigns and things every progressive should be informed about.

   

• email this article to a friend

  Your Name Your Email Recipient Email

  Personal message Thought you might be interested in this article from In These Times.

   

  Please help us prevent spam by verifying the word you see in the image above

  Send to multiple recipients. Just separate each email address with a comma.

• Reader Comments

  There are no comments on this article yet. Start the discussion below.

• register a new account »Posting Security

  To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.

  Username Password

    Remember me
  

  Retreive lost password »

Member Login

Also by Barbara Ehrenreich

• Reclaiming What Makes Us Human
  Through the ages, the killjoys of governing elites have been threatened by public expressions of collective joy
• A Lifelong Debt