MAYNARD GOLDSTEIN

GOLDSTEIN--Maynard, 2 December 1913-12 January 2011. On October 16, 2010, Maynard Goldstein--the last surviving veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought at Jarama--spoke at a benefit event for the Archives of the Vets. He spoke passionately, bringing to life the streets of New York in the 1930's, the streets out of which he came and out of which came the seven other New Yorkers who crossed the Pyrenees with him, putting their lives on the line as they and three thousand other Americans tried to stop the spread of fascism. He spoke without hesitation. He spoke about the continued need to confront the forces of reaction. He spoke without notes. And he held the audience spellbound. Some one and one half months later he celebrated his 97th birthday. Happily? Not quite. Sadly? Not really. But he wasn't pleased with his increasing frailty and he missed Kate, his wife of sixty-eight years, no less an activist than he, who had died three years earlier. Having loving and appreciating friends and family did little to make up for her loss. And so did he go into and through his tenth decade, with all the losses inseparable from a long life, but pleased that his activism didn't stop with Spain. After all, his was the only unionized advertising agency in the City, something he insisted upon, something he brought to pass. His mind never faltered. No surprise then that he played bridge up to the last week of his life. A gathering to memorialize this most remarkable man will be held at his apartment in Manhattan, 300 East 74th Street, Apt. 15F on the 23rd of January, 2011. Festivities will begin at 1:00pm.