About $22,000 is needed to reach the original fund goal of $125,000. But the aim now should be to collect the entire $130,562 pledged internationally. Even where supporters have met their local goal, they should work to collect any outstanding individual pledges and give new readers of Pathfinder books an opportunity to contribute, to help put the drive over the top.

A November 6 meeting in Houston gave the local campaign a boost, bringing the contributions received from 45 percent to 90 percent of the goal. One of the speakers was Alejandra Rincón, who described her recent contribution along with others in translating chapters of Capitalism's World Disorder: Working Class Politics at the Millennium, which Pathfinder is getting ready for publication in Spanish and French early next year.

Rincón described how she had gained in political experience in the process of the translation—both as she dug into the content of the book and as she dealt with the difficulties posed by the translation itself. "A good example was the challenge of translating one of the terms in the book—'leverage,'" said Rincón. When used to refer to "the strength that Pathfinder books provide to communists in getting out their ideas, it is a very positive term. But in Spanish the word we first chose had a very negative connotation. We had to work harder to get the same meaning. These are the kind of challenges we face in translating these ideas."

Reports sent in from various cities around the world indicate the breadth of support that is coming in for the fund.

Having already exceeded their goal, for instance, supporters in Sweden expect to collect still more. Dag Tirsén writes that the response they got to a fund appeal letter they sent out surpassed their expectations. "Some people made a considerable contribution even before being phoned."

Supporters in France sent in an additional $125 to the Fund, bringing them to 75 percent of their goal. Nat London and Thierry Bernard explained that outstanding pledges to the Fund are being collected from supporters in Marseilles and Paris, and that "a special effort is being made this week to get contributions from co-workers at several factories."

Writing from Seattle, Washington, Geoff Mirelowitz reports that the $11,000 goal set by local Pathfinder supporters is "the largest amount of money that supporters of the publisher have ever tried to raise in the Pacific Northwest." Through a special effort over the past two weeks, they increased pledges to $11,200, and sent in more than $1,200 this week alone.

Similar strides towards their goals are being made elsewhere. Fund organizers in Boston collected $1,405 in one week, bringing them from 58 percent to 92 percent of their goal. Los Angeles supporters sent $2,125.

To find out more about the Fund, to get involved or to make a contribution, contact your nearest Pathfinder bookstore listed on page 8. Please make all checks and money orders out to Pathfinder, earmarked Pathfinder Fund, and send to:

Pathfinder, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014.

Jacquie Henderson in Houston contributed to this article.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home