BY NAOMI CRAINE

"Before we finished unpacking newspapers and books we sold a Militant and a copy of the Spanish-language Nueva Internacional," wrote Joanne Kuniansky from Sydney, Australia. She was describing the response to socialists who took part in an April 20 demonstration of 5,000 protesting the Israeli war against Lebanon.

"We heard about the protest on Friday from some workmates at Streets Ice Cream," Kuniansky reported. "At least a dozen workmates from Streets and a few from F. Muller were there and several stopped by the table. By the end of the day we had sold 17 Militants, a Nueva Internacional, three copies of the Pathfinder pamphlet Palestine and the Arabs' Fight for Liberation, and two of Israel's War Against the Palestinian People."

Five young people signed up for more information about the Young Socialists including two - a Palestinian and a Lebanese- Australian - who went over to the Pathfinder bookshop to talk for a couple of hours and bought three Pathfinder pamphlets on the Palestinian struggle.

This is one of many opportunities right now to sell a broad range of Pathfinder titles among those discussing and protesting the war against Lebanon. Jean-Luc Duval reports that supporters of the Socialist Workers campaign in the Detroit area sold a copy of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto Che Guevara and an issue of the magazine New International with the article "Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's assault on Iraq," to demonstrators in Dearborn, Michigan, on April 21.

Special displays in Pathfinder bookstores and on sales tables help highlight the Pathfinder titles that explain what's behind Tel Aviv's terror campaign and Washington's support for it. The ad on page 6 of this issue gives some ideas.

This is also the time for volunteer Pathfinder sales representatives to strike while the iron is hot and get back to commercial bookstores where they have accounts, as well as to visit others to set up new accounts, pointing to the value of Pathfinder's titles on the Middle East and other questions. More working people and others will be hitting bookstores to read up on the Middle East and world politics.

Pathfinder editor Michael Baumann reported that his week-long sales trip to southern Florida in mid-April helped supporters there do just that. The trip was part of a decision by Pathfinder Press that one member of its editorial staff make a sales trip every month. Baumann worked with eight Pathfinder supporters in Miami and Tampa to visit more than 30 bookstores and universities. In addition to taking orders for more than 40 books, they laid the groundwork for future sales and now have several more trained sales reps in the area.

As we go to press, socialist workers are entering the final week of the campaign to sell 1,550 copies of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, including 500 to co-workers in the unions. Several workers wrote in this week to describe how discussions on Cuba and working-class politics in the world convinced a co-worker to buy the book.

Selling Episodes to workers in the Houston area proved a useful tool for two members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, Patti Iiyama and Mary Pritchard, as they prepared to attend the congress of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) in Havana. "Refinery workers have donated more than $50 to purchase safety equipment for oil workers in Cuba, several copies of the CTC's convention theses have been distributed at the Shell and Lyondell-Citgo refineries, two copies of the Episodes book were sold this week at Lyondell-Citgo, and four or five house meetings are now planned for the delegation's return," writes Jerry Freiwirth.

Kay Sedam, a member of the United Transportation Union in Birmingham, Alabama, wrote, "I sold an Episodes book this week as a result of a month-long discussion with a co-worker around the UTU contract negotiations, the articles in the Militant on the CTC congress, looking at the Pathfinder catalog, and purchasing Socialism and Man in Cuba," by Guevara.

Jenny Benton, a member of the International Association of Machinists in Minneapolis, loaned her copy of Episodes to a fellow airline worker. After almost daily discussions he decided to buy his own copy of the Guevara book, as well as Malcolm X Talks to Young People, and a Pathfinder Readers Club membership.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home