Joe Hill - Softcover

Smith, Gibbs M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 087905154X ISBN 13: 9780879051549

Publisher: Gibbs Smith, 1969

Synopsis

The definitive study of Joe Hill, American labor martyr, proletarian fold hero, and song writer.

"Joe Hill became symbolic of the kind of individual sacrifice that would make a revolutionary new society possible. Thus labor radicals, communists, and novelists and playwrights such as John Dos Passos, Wallace Stegner, and Barrie Stavis used the circumstances of Hill's convictions and manner of his death to create a legend that transformed 'just another forgotten migrant worker' into 'The Man Who Never Died," as the song which Paul Robeson enthralled audiences in the 1930s and 1940s had it . . . Gibbs Smith has served us well be recapturing the memory of a man whose songs, to quote another wobbly, evoked the spirit of radicals who were the 'very epitome of guts and gallantry,' a handful of homeless heroes touched by true romance. Men and women whose spirits were stirred far above their belly-need; men and women inspired by visions of heaven on earth. Now, as then, society needs such men and women." --Melvyn Dubofsky, The New York Times Book Review

About this title

About the Author

Gibbs M. Smith, founder of his eponymous book publishing company, started the business in 1969 with his wife, Catherine, in Santa Barbara, California. After three years, they moved the company to Layton, Utah. Gibbs served as president, committed to the daily operations of the business for forty-eight years, until his death in 2017. This book is a celebration of Gibbs' legacy, the local bookstores that he loved, and fifty years of Gibbs Smith as an independent publisher.

From the Back Cover

The definitive study of Joe Hill, American labor martyr, proletarian fold hero, and song writer.
"Joe Hill became symbollic of the kind of individual sacrifice that would make a revolutionary new society possible. Thus labor radicals, communists, and novelists and playwrights such as John Dos Passos, Wallace Stegner, and Barrie Stavis used the circumstances of Hill's convictions and manner of his death to create a legend that transformed 'just another forgotten migrant worker' into 'The Man Who Never Died," as the song which Paul Robeson enthralled audiences in the 1930s and 1940s had it . . . Gibbs Smith has served us well be recapturing the memory of a man whose songs, to quote another wobbly, evoked the spirit of radicals who were the 'very epitome of guts and gallantry,' a handful of homeless heroes touched by true romance. Men and women whose spirits were stirred far above their belly-need; men and women inspired by visions of heaven on earth. Now, as then, society needs such men and women."
--Melvyn Dubofsky, The New York Times Book Review

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Joe Hill, arriving in New York City after emigrating from Sweden in 1902, worked in factories and mines, and on farms and waterfronts as he traveled from the east coast to San Pedro, California, where he joined the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1913, journeying east again--probably via freight train--Hill stopped to work in the mines of Utah. While in that state he was arrested, tried, and convicted of murdering a Salt Lake City grocer. Joe Hill''s execution by a Utah firing squad in November of 1915 was preceded by appeals for clemency from thousands of sympathizers and such notables as Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor; W. A. F. Ekengren, Swedish Minister to the United States; and President Woodrow Wilson.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Publication date: 1969
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 087905154X
• ISBN 13: 9780879051549
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 286