tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post7511031479718431367..comments2024-03-28T04:26:49.354+00:00Comments on Tony Greenstein's Blog: Mike Goodman - An Appreciation for a childhood friend and comradeTony Greensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-65849574611785864922011-12-24T01:00:38.348+00:002011-12-24T01:00:38.348+00:00Thanks Dan. Mike was a natural and gifted speaker...Thanks Dan. Mike was a natural and gifted speaker. You either have it or you don't. He is one of the few people who I admit to being a better public speaker than me! Mike was a character who will never be replaced. He also made a few enemies, as I've discovered since writing this piece!Tony Greensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-17686448200853957732011-12-23T22:36:53.357+00:002011-12-23T22:36:53.357+00:00I've just come across this and it informs and ...I've just come across this and it informs and illuminates my knowledge of my counciilor colleague Mike Goodman. There were many councillors both on the other side of the chamber and mine whom I would happily have seen fall of their perches, but not Mike, and it was a terrible shock to learn of his death, as I had been out of touch after leaving the council and had not known of his illness. Somewhere on the internet is the text of the speech he gave to a conference and it is unique: I can hear his voice from the text there, and cannot think of any speaker apart from Churchill whose rhythms and cadences come across so clearly simply from the text. A real loss. I am glad I could attend his funeral which was well-attended.Dan Filsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08090743893438968769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-18677806174498311232011-05-17T13:06:24.864+01:002011-05-17T13:06:24.864+01:00Well I'm not sure this is entirely fair. Of c...Well I'm not sure this is entirely fair. Of course I approach things from my particular perspective but Mike was a political animal to his bones. He wasn't an anti-Zionist like me and he moved to the right somewhat when he got older and after his somewhat unorthodox experiences as Council leader.<br /><br />Others who knew him have liked the tribute so I guess you pay your money and take your choices.<br /><br />I don't see the piece as an excuse to attack Israel. There are too many opportunities to do that given its record. Rather, since Zionism claims to be at the heart of Jewish identity it is worth exploring Mike's views on the subject.<br /><br />I fear Jeff that this is symptomatic of the irrationality and insensitivity that too many Jewish people have when Israel is mentioned.<br /><br />I may well have omitted many aspects of Mike's life. My contact with him after university was only intermittent. What I did was to try and put down in an article my own memories and how it related to our shared interest in politics.<br /><br />Sorry if you didn't like it.Tony Greensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-37655764739795113192011-05-17T02:22:37.215+01:002011-05-17T02:22:37.215+01:00I was at Delamere Forest School in Cheshire with M...I was at Delamere Forest School in Cheshire with Mike during the mid 1960's - and later married his second cousin.<br /><br />I stumbled across this piece and began reading it with great expectation only to end with great disappointment.<br /><br />Mike was a wonderful school friend and you seem to have omitted much of the greatness of his short life. Instead you used this as a forum to attack Israel - what a lack of respect to MikeJeff Caplannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-48740750279632775262009-09-10T13:57:46.924+01:002009-09-10T13:57:46.924+01:00Thanks Mick.
Yes Mike, whose family you'd pro...Thanks Mick.<br /><br />Yes Mike, whose family you'd probably classify as lower middle class, and from what I remember he was just brought up by his mum, was shunted into a schooling system that condemned 3/4 of children to becoming factory fodder.<br /><br />But Mike wasn't born to become factory fodder and anyway Liverpool was shedding all its factories so he'd have been dole fodder.<br /><br />I can remember us playing cards at the home of a third boy, Mark Green, whose dad owned a small tailor's shop. Mr Green was also a member of the Communist Party, which was virtually unknown in the 1960s in the Liverpool Jewish community. Zionism had done its work and helped shift British Jews well to the right and in support of the imperialist project. And at that time there was the utterly reactionary campaign for Soviet Jewry, a campaign which fought and fought again to stop those same Jews going to America. Successive Israeli Prime Ministers went to Washington to get the immigration barriers lowered on Jews.<br /><br />I remember because I did a paper round for some years and this was the only Morning Star which I delivered (they were mainly papers like the Express (which then had a wider circulation than the Mail and wasn't owned by a pornographer) and Telegraph). Mark from what I remember became a taxi driver, also a good Jewish occupation!<br /><br />Sorry I must stop all these reminiscences. It's a sign of age!Tony Greensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300640929161205370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640441812647446166.post-22307832674751707572009-09-10T11:27:22.211+01:002009-09-10T11:27:22.211+01:00Tony
This is a lovely piece about your friend and...Tony<br /><br />This is a lovely piece about your friend and I am certain Mike would approve. You wrote whilst at school he was shunted into the siding marked Factory Fodder and as his later life proved he was having none of it.<br /><br />As we both know, these educational sidings still exist, although these days they are the size of Preston junction. As the UK's manufacturing base has been decimated by neo-liberalism, those unfortunate youngsters who lives are blighted through no fault of their own, often find themselves within the most deprived section of this society, the economic underclass.Organized Rage.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07627288401631451362noreply@blogger.com