kara speltz
04-09-2008, 04:41 PM
Most everyone on this forum is too young to remember much about the Catonsville 9 Draft Board action 40 years ago. I was blessed to be friends with the 9, living with 5 of them in D.C. Over the years, several of the nine have died. First David Darst, then Mary Moylan, and Phil Berrigan who died several years ago.
This week we lost Tom Lewis an amazing artist and even more amazing and committed nonviolent peacemaker. Tom not only took part in the draft board raid in Catonsville, but was awaiting sentencing on a previous draft board action in Baltimore. He participated in numerous civil disobedience actions and well as creating spectacular artwork in support of the movement. It is a great loss to lose such a man. I'm posting below the brief obituary and ask all of you to keep his family and friends in your prayers. Kara
On April 4, 2008, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Pahl Lewis died of natural causes at his home in Worcester, Massachusetts. His commitment to justice and peace flowed out of his love and art and began with civil rights, continued with opposition to the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, and the current US War in Iraq. He was arrested many times for nonviolent civil disobedience, serving more than 4 years of his life in jail for his acts of conscience, including a multi-year sentence for his part in the burning of draft files in Catonsville, Maryland in 1968. Tom was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1940.
This week we lost Tom Lewis an amazing artist and even more amazing and committed nonviolent peacemaker. Tom not only took part in the draft board raid in Catonsville, but was awaiting sentencing on a previous draft board action in Baltimore. He participated in numerous civil disobedience actions and well as creating spectacular artwork in support of the movement. It is a great loss to lose such a man. I'm posting below the brief obituary and ask all of you to keep his family and friends in your prayers. Kara
On April 4, 2008, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Pahl Lewis died of natural causes at his home in Worcester, Massachusetts. His commitment to justice and peace flowed out of his love and art and began with civil rights, continued with opposition to the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, and the current US War in Iraq. He was arrested many times for nonviolent civil disobedience, serving more than 4 years of his life in jail for his acts of conscience, including a multi-year sentence for his part in the burning of draft files in Catonsville, Maryland in 1968. Tom was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1940.