Books from the CCLH
Patrick Lenihan: From Irish Rebel to Founder of Canadian Public Sector UnionismEdited by Gilbert Levine with an Introduction by Lorne Brown
Patrick Lenihan displayed rare courage and unwavering commitment to social justice, from his childhood in revolutionary Ireland through his leading role in the Communist Party of Canada to the formation of the first national union of public employees. Patrick Lenihan: From Irish Rebel to Founder of Canadian Public Sector Unionism chronicles a lifetime of rebellion, protest, and organizing, aganist the backdrop of the major economic, social, and political struggles of this century.
Lenihan was constantly watched, repeatedly arrested, and often imprisoned, but he emerged time and again as a leader in the cause of the downtrodden, the working poor, and the unemployed. The On-to-Ottawa Trek, the work camps of the 1930's, the radicalism of the western mine towns, the Cold War -- Pat Lenihan was involved in it all, front and center.
Drawn from interviews conducted by Gilbert Levine and written in an unadorned, engaging style, Patrick Lenihan is far more than the story of Canada's most infuential and colorful figures. It makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of western radicalism, Canadian communism, state repression union organizing, and the daily struggles which have shaped 20th-century Canada.
Gilbert Levine is the retired research director of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the author of articles on the Canadian labour movement, Alberta miners, and western radicalism. Lorne Brown teaches political science at the University of Regina. He is the author of When Freedom Was Lost: The Unemployed, the Agitator, and the State and many articles on Canadian labour history, western farmers, and state policy toward the unemployed.
ISBN 1-894000-00-5 [1998], paper, 203 pp., $19.95
