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   Vol.65/No.38            October 8, 2001 
 
 
Pathfinder volunteers produce books for proletarian campaign against imperialism
 
BY PEGGY BRUNDY  
SAN FRANCISCO--In a note sent last week to the Pathfinder Reprint Project steering committee, reprint volunteer Gale Shangold wrote: "Last week I was extremely grateful to be spending time indexing a Pathfinder book as it became clear September 11 what was rapidly shaping up and what U.S. imperialism had in store for workers here and around the world. More supporters will want to dedicate and rededicate time, energy, and their skills to the reprint project as the antiwar work it is."

The books that Pathfinder Press publishes are essential materials in the working-class campaign against imperialism and its war drive. Pathfinder books explain why war in many different forms is an integral part of capitalist society and why the only road to peace is through the struggle for socialism. Pathfinder publishes books that make the continuity of the communist movement, the line of march of the working-class, and a Marxist explanation of today's world accessible to vanguard workers and farmers.

For the past three years more than 150 volunteers in nine countries have been contributing time and skills to keeping these books in print and easily accessible to today's vanguard fighters by turning each Pathfinder title into digital computer files on a compact disc. These are used by the printshop of the publishing house, which has the latest computer-to-plate technology in making plates for the printing presses. As volunteers digitize each book they update the typography and graphics, greatly enhancing the appearance and readability of the title. The new technology also makes possible rapid printing of short runs to respond to demands in the class struggle.

A steering committee, currently composed of Jerry Gardner, Laurel Kelly, Peggy Brundy, Ruth Cheney, and Tom Tomasko, coordinates the work of the volunteers according to the publishing needs of Pathfinder Press. They meet each week with SWP leader Norton Sandler to discuss priorities. Project volunteers around the world are organized into seven production teams: scanning, proofreading, graphics, formatting, index concordance, CD production, and on-line book promotion.

Because of the efforts of Pathfinder Press and the reprint project, around 55 percent of the books in Pathfinder's catalog are now digitized, on CDs, and ready to print at a moment's notice. However, that leaves 45 percent yet to go, including some that would be very valuable to the working-class campaign against imperialism and its war against Afghanistan.

In a recent communication to the reprint project steering committee, Pathfinder prioritized a number of out-of-print books that need to be digitized in order to get them into the hands of workers and farmers in face of the imperialist assault: Nueva Internacional no. 1: "Los caņonazos ini-ciales de la tercera guerra mundial: el ataque de Washington contra Iraq" ("Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's Assault on Iraq"); New International No. 2: "The Working-Class Road to Peace"; Israel: A Colonial-Settler State?; FBI on Trial; Fighting Racism in World War II; Israel's War against the Palestinian People; and Lenin's Struggle for a Revolutionary International. Project production teams will be working out how to prioritize these books in their work.

The events today help highlight the relevance of the international volunteer effort to get these books back in print. Anyone interested in helping out on this aspect of the working-class campaign against imperialism and its war drive can contact Ruth Cheney at ruthchen@pacbell.net. We'll put you right to work!
 
 
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