Harold Weisberg
Harold Weisberg died at his home in Frederick, Maryland, on 21 February from a kidney ailment at the age of 88. He was one of the first generation of Warren Report critics along with Vincent Salandria, Ray Marcus, Mark Lane, Sylvia Meagher and others.
He was a tireless critic of the Report and if his books were sometime a little shrill and polemical he was nonetheless an indefatigable researcher amongst government documents, always uncovering material that other workers had overlooked.
I spoke to Harold many times and he gave me considerable help on several projects. He was generous with his time and his research and unfailingly encouraging and, I can think of no better word, courteous. His voice, even towards the end, was youthful and characterised by enthusiasm. It was always a tonic talking to him.
Harold believed that the so called ‘little man’ could topple the might of the State if only he went about it the right way, and his life is testimony to that belief.
He is survived by his wife, Lillian Stone Weisberg (whom he married in 1939), and two sisters.
Anthony Frewin
Roddy Scott
I note with sorrow the death of thirty-one year old Roddy Scott. In his Times obituary, 3 October 2002, he was described as a, ‘Fearless freelance journalist with a strong empathy for unfashionable causes, particularly in Central Asia and the Middle East, and a determination to bring them to the West’s attention…..He was killed while filming fierce fighting between Chechens and Russian troops. He believed that a lack of objective reporting in places like Chechnya left states such as Russia free to write their own account of complex and far-reaching conflicts.’
Scott’s death guarantees it. Doubtless, as Blair met with Putin in the latter’s hunting lodge, 11 October 2002, the Russian President – his menu of demands in return for compliance with America-versus-Iraq in his hand – was given a free rein to deal with the Chechens as he pleases. He will now be able to do so without Roddy Scott’s brave and objective scrutiny.
Corinne Souza
Harry Irwin
Harry Irwin died in early October. Harry published the JFK Assassination Forum Newsletter for a time in the 1970s and was a considerable help to me when I was a tyro JFK buff, supplying books and articles. I met him only twice, most recently in London at a Fortean Times Unconvention. Occasional little typed notes would arrive with cuttings from the Irish media. I knew he was a book collector and dealer. That’s all I could honestly say. However at
< http://www.ulsternation.org.uk/harry_irwin.htm > there is a long obituary by David Kerr which shows that Harry had played a significant role in Ulster politics – something he never mentioned to me in 20 years of sporadic correspondence.
Robin Ramsay