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( I sadly post this announcement about an old time NYC anarchist--Bill Koehnlein, a real hold out, a good friend, a man who preserved almost singlehandedly one of two last Anarchist spaces in the City in the 80s, the Anarchist Switchboard. Bill introduced my friends and me to Camatte, the Sits, and Perlman--and in this way helped shape our ideas of the post-left and now black anarchy. Rest In Power, Comrade--wherever I go, little bit of you comes with me--pzs)
William (Bill) W. Koehnlein, life-long militant, organizer and educator, died in Manhattan on November 19, 2017, after a long, courageous struggle with colon cancer.
A native New Yorker, Bill was born May 10, 1949, and spent the first six years of his life in the Payson Avenue section of Manhattan (1949-51) and in Elmhurst, Queens (1951-55), where he attended kindergarten at P.S. 89. For the next twelve years, he lived in Huntington Station, Long Island, subsequently moving to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, his main residence until his death.
Bill was a warm, humble, honest and compassionate person. Throughout his adult life, he worked primarily as a freelance book editor and indexer. A political actor, he radically opposed the culture of capitalism both as a writer and organizer committed to grass-roots movement-building for systemic change. In his interactions with people from all walks of life, he espoused and embodied an alternative culture of solidarity. The projects and actions in which Bill was involved from the 1960s on reached across the ideological spectrum of the Left—anarchism, socialism, communism, while sharing a common goal: promoting revolutionary consciousness and practice. For example:
1) Bill demonstrated with SDS at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
2) From the 1960s into the late 1980s, he was an active member of the anarchist community. During this period of time, a) he participated in the Free School movement as a member of the collective that ran Free Space/Alternate University (in the A. J. Muste building and on 14th Street); b) he was a member of the Libertarian Book Club; and c) in the early 1980s, he co-founded the Anarchist Switchboard (East 9th Street/Second Avenue in Manhattan), a project partly modeled on the original Free Space.
3) Since the 1960s, he actively supported the War Resisters League.
4) He worked as a journalist for Liberation News Service.
5) From the late 1980s until his death, Bill was an active member and constant supporter of the Brecht Forum/New York Marxist School, and subsequently, the Marxist Education Project.
6) He was a passionate supporter of the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) from its founding in 1990, and subsequently served as TOPLAB's administrator (late 1990s – 2017).
7) For three years, he volunteered weekly at the Earth Matter NY Compost Learning Center, on Governors Island, caring for the chickens.
8) He was a working member of the Fourth Street Food Co-op in Manhattan.
Bill lived a full life with integrity. He also touched hearts and minds with his encyclopedic knowledge, prodigious memory and wit. He did extensive research on many subjects, including organic farming and sustainable agriculture, edible mushrooms, wines, alternative medicine and the politics of food. He was also an animal whisperer and defender of animal rights who vigorously promoted the health and ecological benefits of the vegan diet. He fed birds and squirrels, loved crows, brushed his cat, gazed at the moon, climbed rocks, and felt at home in the woods and on mountain hiking trails. Bill will be lovingly remembered by his family and friends as an engaging raconteur; a writer of both incisive political commentary and whimsical fiction; a disseminator of information—news, films, music, recipes; an accomplished photographer; a lover of music ranging from Wagnerian operas to John Coltrane and Sun Ra; and a creative vegan cook.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Marie-Claire Picher; his son, Lyle Koehnlein, and daughter-in-law, Jessica Weiser
Bill's family would like to thank the Visiting Nurse Service of New York Hospice and Palliative Care Program for their invaluable support. We request that any monetary contributions in memory of Bill be sent to The War Resisters League, The Marxist Education Project or The Catholic Worker.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Celebrating the Life of Bill Koehnlein
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Saint Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Parish Hall
131 East 10th Street (at Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003
1:00-4:00pm
(posted by Paul Z. Simons)