Harry Leslie Smith
{{short description|British writer, political commentator, and World War II veteran (1923–2018)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Harry Leslie Smith
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| image = Harry Leslie Smith.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1923|02|25}}
| birth_place = Barnsley, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2018|11|28|1923|02|25}}
| death_place = Belleville, Ontario, Canada
| occupation = Author
Social activist
Columnist
Oriental rug importer (retired)
RAF serviceman (formerly)
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{{cite news |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201837978/harry-leslie-smith-'don't-let-the-mean-streets-of-my-past-be-our-future |title=Harry Leslie Smith – 'Don't let the mean streets of my past be our future' |work=Radio NZ |date=25 March 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/320326 |title=Writers |website=New Statesman |accessdate=7 May 2017}}{{cite book |url=https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781472123466 |title=Harry Leslie Smith – Don't Let My Past Be Your Future – Little, Brown Book Group |date=14 September 2017 |publisher=littlebrown.co.uk|isbn=9781472123466 |accessdate=7 May 2017}}
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| notableworks = The Barley Hole Chronicles
The Empress of Australia
1923: A Memoir
Harry's Last Stand
| spouse = {{marriage|Elfriede Gisela "Friede" Edelmann|16 August 1947|1999|end=died}}{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Harryslaststand/status/1053633299913027585 |title=Tweet |author=Harry Leslie Smith |date=20 October 2018 |website=@Harryslaststand (confirmed) |publisher=Twitter |accessdate=20 November 2018 |quote=My wife Elfriede Gisela Edelmann was born on Oct 20, 1928 in Hamburg Germany. She was the illegitimate daughter of a Berlin socialist trade unionist and a Bohemian hotel manager who lived on the outskirts of the Reeperbahn.}}
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| children = 3 sons
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| allegiance = {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
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| website = {{URL|harryslaststand.com/}}
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Harry Leslie Smith (25 February 1923 – 28 November 2018){{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=Don't dread old age. I'm 94, and I won't spend my last years in fear of the Tories |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/24/dont-dread-old-age-fear-tories-tyranny-austerity |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=13 August 2017 |date=24 February 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/28/harry-leslie-smith-dies-aged-95 |title=Harry Leslie Smith, vocal critic of austerity, dies aged 95 |work=The Guardian |first=Caroline |last=Davies |date=28 November 2018 |accessdate=28 November 2018}} was an English writer and political commentator. He grew up in poverty in Yorkshire, served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, and emigrated to Canada in 1953. After retiring, Smith wrote his memoirs and about the social history of 20th-century Britain. Smith wrote five books, about life in the Great Depression, the Second World War, and post-war austerity,{{cite web |title=Harry Leslie Smith: profile |url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/harry-leslie-smith |work=The Guardian |accessdate=2 January 2015}} and columns for The Guardian, New Statesman, The Daily Mirror, International Business Times, and the Morning Star. He appeared in public at the 2014 Labour Party conference in Manchester, and during the 2015 general election and the 2016 EU membership referendum. In Canada he made a 2015 "Stand Up for Progress" national tour.
Early life
Smith was born on 25 February 1923, in Barnsley, Yorkshire,{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Harryslaststand/status/570374647692320770 |title=Tweet |author=Harry Leslie Smith |date=25 February 2015 |website=@Harryslaststand (confirmed) |publisher=Twitter |accessdate=25 February 2015|quote=On Feb 25,1923, I was born in a gas lit hard scrabble Barnsley where life was tough & short 92 years later I'm on #Twitter Tempus fugit....}} the son of Albert Smith (1867–1943), an unemployed coal miner, and Lillian Dean (1894–1978). His eldest sister Marion died of tuberculosis in 1926, aged ten years; as there was no cure for the disease at the time, nor did the family have enough money to see a doctor. After his father became unemployed, the family moved to Bradford, Yorkshire, then to Halifax, West Yorkshire. Smith joined the RAF in 1941 and spent several years in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the Allied occupation force. Whilst serving there, he met his future wife, Friede. The couple returned to the UK after he was demobilised, and he worked at various jobs around the Yorkshire area.
He and Friede emigrated to Canada in November 1953, living in Scarborough (now part of Toronto) and later in Belleville, Ontario,{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=Katrina |title=Belleville man, 91, shares activist message on book tour |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/09/26/belleville_man_91_shares_activist_message_on_book_tour.html |accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=Toronto Star |date=26 September 2014}} and had three sons: Michael (born 1953), Peter (1959–2009), and John (born 1963).{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=1923: A Memoir (Acknowledgements) |date=August 2010 |publisher=iUniverse, Inc. |isbn=9781450254137 |url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1923-harry-leslie-smith/1103576214?ean=9781450254137 |accessdate=2 January 2015}} Smith made a career in the Oriental rug trade, as a buyer and salesman for Eaton's,{{cite news |title=Virtual vigil held for 95-year-old war vet and international Twitter sensation |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/virtual-vigil-held-for-95-year-old-war-vet-and-international-twitter-sensation |accessdate=23 November 2018 |work=National Post |agency=Canadian Press |date=22 November 2018}} specialising and importing new designs from the Middle East, the former Soviet bloc, and Afghanistan.{{cite web |last1=Keyes |first1=Stephanie |title=Spring Author Series: Harry Leslie Smith |url=http://www.stephaniekeyes.com/spring-author-series-harry-leslie-smith/ |accessdate=2 January 2015 |archive-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102172747/http://www.stephaniekeyes.com/spring-author-series-harry-leslie-smith/ |url-status=dead }}
Writing and speaking activities
Smith's wife Friede died in 1999, and his middle son Peter died in 2009. After their deaths, Smith consoled himself by turning to writing. After his retirement he was a writer of memoirs and social history, dividing his time between Ontario and Yorkshire.
Smith wrote regularly for The Guardian, commenting on politics and twentieth-century history. He attracted attention in November 2013, writing that he would not wear the remembrance poppy in future years because he felt the symbol was being used to promote support for present-day conflicts.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=This year, I will wear a poppy for the last time |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/08/poppy-last-time-remembrance-harry-leslie-smith |accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=The Guardian |date=8 November 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Bond |first1=Louise |title=Hate on War, But Don't Hate on Poppies |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/louise-bond/poppies-remembrance-day_b_4249630.html |accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=The Blog |date=23 January 2014}} He addressed the September 2014 Labour Party conference, speaking in support of the National Health Service (NHS) and describing how common preventable diseases "snuffed out life like a cold breath on a warm candle flame" prior to the creation of the NHS.{{cite news |title=Harry Leslie Smith: The NHS is turning into a two-tier health care system |url=http://www.channel5.com/shows/5-news/blogs/harry-leslie-smith-the-nhs-is-turning-into-a-two-tier-health-care-system |accessdate=2 January 2015 |agency=Channel 5 News |publisher=Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd. |date=5 December 2014}} He also spoke on BBC Radio{{cite news |title=Labour's Harry Leslie Smith: I didn't have a childhood |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29527476 |accessdate=2 January 2015 |publisher=BBC News |date=7 October 2014}} and at the Bristol Politics Festival.{{cite web |title=Politics Festival 2014: Harry Leslie Smith |url=http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/2014/events/politics-festival-2014-harry-leslie-smith/ |publisher=Bristol Festival of Ideas |accessdate=2 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102164011/http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/2014/events/politics-festival-2014-harry-leslie-smith/ |archive-date=2 January 2015}}
Smith said that it was the 2008 financial crisis that inspired him to take his "last stand", writing and campaigning on income inequality, public services and what he saw as the diminishing prospects for young people. "I want to use my time and whatever influence I have from the book to get the young in Britain to vote the only way we can: to save our social democratic institutions. I want us to make our last stand at the ballot box".
In July 2015, Smith endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Harry Leslie |url=https://twitter.com/Harryslaststand/status/625355557092859904 |title=I back #JeremyCorbyn b/c I want my grandchildren's generation to have a fighting chance for a decent and meaningful life free of austerity |publisher=Twitter |date=26 July 2015 |accessdate=15 July 2017}}
In October 2015, Smith appeared on the BBC Three documentary We Want Our Country Back, where he sharply criticised the far-right anti-immigration political movement Britain First.{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/18/harry-leslie-smith-ww2-veteran-raf_n_8158758.html |title=WWII RAF Veteran Epically Shoots Down 'Racist' Moaning About Refugees |author=York, Chris |work=The Huffington Post |date=18 September 2015}}
In 2016, Smith also endorsed Corbyn's re-election campaign at the Labour Party leadership election.{{cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Michael |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/23/bernie-sanders-backs-jeremy-corbyn-in-labour-leadership-race |title=Bernie Sanders 'backs Jeremy Corbyn' in Labour leadership race |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=23 August 2016 |accessdate=3 August 2017}} In March 2016, he said of Corbyn: "He is a very honest-minded man. He has the desire to change things in Britain. Corbyn will change the world for the better. There is no one else". He added: "He'll learn he has to put some more weight behind it. I am behind him and will work with him".{{cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Michael |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/harry-leslie-smith-second-world-war-veteran-says-politicians-should-get-to-grips-with-uk-poverty-a6915926.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/harry-leslie-smith-second-world-war-veteran-says-politicians-should-get-to-grips-with-uk-poverty-a6915926.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Harry Leslie Smith: Second World War veteran says politicians should get to grips with UK poverty |work=The Independent |date=6 March 2016 |accessdate=15 July 2017}}
In August 2016 Smith dismissed the accusations of anti-Semitism that had dogged Corbyn, of whom Smith was a vocal supporter.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Harryslaststand/status/761280474719199232 |title=Tweet |author=Harry Leslie Smith |date=4 August 2016 |website=@Harryslaststand (confirmed) |publisher=Twitter |accessdate=4 August 2016 |quote=The idea being floated by some that Corbyn and his followers brought anti-Semitism into the Labour Party is repugnant. #LabourLeadership}} The Equality and Human Rights Commission later determined that there had been serious failings in leadership and an inadequate process of handling anti-Semitism complaints in the Labour Party during Corbyn's leadership.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45030552 |title=A guide to Labour Party anti-Semitism claims |work=BBC News |date=18 November 2020 |accessdate=31 January 2022}}
In September 2017, Smith released his fifth book Don't Let My Past Be Your Future. It was published by Little Brown.{{cite book |author=Harry Leslie Smith |title=Don't Let My Past Be Your Future |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qnc6DgAAQBAJ |date=14 September 2017 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-4721-2346-6}}
Smith was also active in support of refugees during the European migrant crisis. In November 2017, he appeared on the Sky One comedy The Russell Howard Hour, where he briefly recalled his trip to the Calais Jungle, discussed his new book and the increasing dependence on food banks in the UK. Smith and Howard also discussed the NHS, with Smith reflecting on the accessibility of medical care with a family story.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLWFOpzXIoA&index=8&list=PLNgnyIAvriDrKtqJQ6Vasxz2WhZ9DICvs |title=Harry Leslie Smith on the importance of the NHS |date=10 November 2017 |publisher=YouTube |accessdate=9 October 2018}}
Smith wrote of the political situation in 2017:
I am one of the last few remaining voices left from a generation of men and women who built a better society for our children and grandchildren out of the horrors of the second world war, as well as the hunger of the Great Depression. Sadly, that world my generation helped build on a foundation of decency and fair play is being swept away by neoliberalism and the greed of the 1%, which has brought discord around the globe. Today, the western world stands at its most dangerous juncture since the 1930s.[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/28/harry-leslie-smith-dies-aged-95 Harry Leslie Smith, vocal critic of austerity, dies aged 95] The Guardian
Illness and death
On 20 November 2018, Smith was admitted to Belleville General Hospital in critical condition after contracting pneumonia. His hospital stay prompted an international cyber-vigil on Twitter and an outpouring of support from well-wishers from around the world; including Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, of whom Smith was a major supporter.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/harry-leslie-smith-in-hospital-1.4914879 |title=Supporters say #IStandWithHarry as WW II veteran-turned-activist Harry Leslie Smith battles illness | CBC News}}{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/11/21/harry-leslie-smith-the-worlds-oldest-rebel-hospitalized-in-belleville.html |title=Harry Leslie Smith, 'world's oldest rebel,' hospitalized in Belleville. 'I did something that mattered, didn't I?' | the Star|website=Toronto Star |date=21 November 2018 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-46287955 |title=Thousands send support to ill war veteran|work=BBC News |date=21 November 2018}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/21/outpouring-of-support-for-critically-ill-activist-harry-leslie-smith |title=Outpouring of support for critically ill activist Harry Leslie Smith|newspaper=The Guardian| date=21 November 2018 |last1=Greenfield |first1=Patrick}} He died on the morning of 28 November 2018, aged 95.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Owen |title=Harry Leslie Smith obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/28/harry-leslie-smith-obituary |work=The Guardian |date=28 November 2018}}
Books
Self-published autobiographical works;
- Love among the ruins (2009) (was Hamburg 1947: A Place for the Heart to Kip),{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=Love among the ruins |date=December 2009 |publisher=Barley Hole (ebook format by Kobo) |isbn=9780987842558}}
- 1923: A Memoir (2010){{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=1923: A Memoir |date=August 2010 |publisher=iUniverse, Inc. |isbn=9781450254137}}—
These two works were also published together as The Barley Hole Chronicles{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=The Barley Hole Chronicles: From Hell to Hamburg |date=December 2009 |publisher=Barley Hole (ebook format by Kobo) |isbn=9780987842534}}
- The Empress of Australia: A Post-War Memoir (2013),{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=The Empress of Australia: A Post-War Memoir|date=March 2013 |publisher=Barley Hole (ebook format by Kobo) |isbn=9780987842589}}
Published by Icon Books and Constable:
- Harry's Last Stand (2014){{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=Harry's Last Stand |date=June 2014 |publisher=ICON Books |isbn=9781848317260}} Reviewers described this last book as "heart-breaking"{{cite news |last1=Bermingham |first1=Finbarr |title=Harry Leslie Smith Interview: Meet the Man Who Lived Through WWII, the Great Depression and the 2008 Financial Crisis |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/harry-leslie-smith-interview-meeting-twitter-using-91-year-old-who-lived-through-wwii-workhouses-1458735|accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=International Business Times |date=1 August 2014}} and "a furious poem dedicated to the preservation of the welfare state",{{cite news |last1=Reguly |first1=Eric |title=Veteran RAF warrior takes up old fight to save U.K. health care |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/old-warrior-fights-to-save-uk-health-care/article21976057/ |accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |date=5 December 2014}} and wrote that "the book... meanders between biography and rage against the system. The biography parts are the most compelling...." Another commentator calls Smith "a fine writer and a logical thinker, even though Harry's Last Stand makes its points early and often and is a bit of a rant at times."{{cite news |last1=LS |title=Harry's Last Stand: Harry Leslie Smith |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2014/08/31/harrys-last-stand/1406901600 |accessdate=2 January 2015 |work=The Saturday Paper – books |date=2 August 2014}} It has sold over 18,000 copies.
- Don't Let My Past Be Your Future (2017) ){{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Harry Leslie |title=Don't Let My Past Be Your Future |date=2014 |publisher=Constable |isbn=9781472123459}}
Bibliography
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References
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External links
- {{Official website|http://www.HarrysLastStand.com}}
- [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/harry-leslie-smith Articles in The Guardian]
- [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/164921 Articles in the New Statesman]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Harry Leslie}}
Category:21st-century English memoirists
Category:British political writers
Category:Labour Party (UK) people
Category:British emigrants to Canada
Category:Canadian health activists
Category:English social justice activists
Category:Writers from Barnsley
Category:Writers from Belleville, Ontario
Category:Writers from Bradford
Category:Writers from Halifax, West Yorkshire
Category:Royal Air Force airmen
Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II