June 2013 - Anne Feeney's Fellow Travelers' Advisory - Volume Eight #11

Hi there Hellraisers - 

Last month was the first time nine years that I completely skipped a monthly edition of the Fellow Travelers' Advisory.  I didn't get one out in May, and if I don't get this out soon, June will be over too.  The good news is that there were so many happy and exciting developments in my life that I just did not have time to write!  I'll confess I'm running a little slower than I did prior to getting sick, but I'm still moving along at a relatively fast clip.  Big love and a special shout out to all my College Station and Bryan fans and friends -  especially Danny, Marsha and Phillip.

Here is the biggest news ... On June 21st my second grandson, Nicholas John Berlin, arrived by Caesarean section in Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington.  He arrived at 12:59PM and weighed 7lb 13 oz.  He's 21 inches long with lots of dark hair and dark eyes.

Nicholas John Berlin, Born 21 June 2013, 7lbs. 13 oz, 21 inches long

Mom (Monique Murad), Big Brother Sebastian, and Papa Daniel (Iron Man) Berlin

Immediate Destinations:

June 28-30th Great Labor Arts Exchange, Linthicum, MD  http://laborheritage.org/

This is the 35th anniversary of the Great Labor Arts Exchange, 

and the 20th Anniversaryof the founding of Local 1000 - 

The Traveling Musicians' Local of the American Federation of Musicians.  

Come for all or part of this three day conference that changed my life.

Tret Fure, Charlie King, Rebel Voices, Emma's Revolution and I will be among those welcoming you!

July 5th-7th Northern Lights Festival Boreal in Sudbury, Ontario  http://nlfbsudbury.com/performers

I am so looking forward to this fabulous festival.  My pal Martha Shunn is going to be

 my road buddy for this 1400 mile adventure.

July 12-14th The Almanac Trail with George Mann and Rik Palieri http://www.almanactrail.com/

       July 12th - Pittsburgh - USW Headquarters 7PM

       July 13th - Cleveland - 

       July 14th - Detroit

July 19-21 Committees of Correspondence National Convention 

       Pittsburgh, PA http://www.cc-ds.org/2013-convention/

August 17-Sept 2 Summer of Solidarity Tour  

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/summer-of-solidarity-tour?browse_v=new

https://www.facebook.com/SummerOfSolidarityTour

August 17—Philadelphia

August 18—Pittsburgh

August 19—Detroit/Windsor, ON

August 20-21—Chicago, Metropolis, IL

August 22—Milwaukee

August 23—Minneapolis

August 24—Fargo, ND

August 26—Missoula, MT

August 28—Portland, OR

August 30—San Francisco, CA

September 1-2—Los Angeles, CA

*Dates subject to change based on needs of host organizations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvJ-bOsyoYI

LOVE IS LEGAL!!

Pictured here are three generations of my family outside the Supreme Court yesterday to hear them read the opinion overturning the Defense of Marriage Act.  It was fun to be among thousands of joyous celebrants on this historic occasion  L to R:  Me, my grandson Sebastian and my son Daniel. 

Sebastian was a huge hit walking around with his rainbow parasol!

SEPTEMBER 29th - OCTOBER 8th

Come to Ireland with me - still 3 seats left!!

We have a fantastic international delegation of tourists to come see Ireland this summer.  Six of our nineteen tourmates are from Canada... We would welcome three more folks to this tour... it's not too late!   Out of  consideration for our host hotels we will have to close reservations soon.  Please don't pass up this opportunity -- If you've wanted to do this for years, do it now, with us! Swedes, Danes, Finns (one of our favorite tourmates was from England) are all warmly welcome.

Top Ten Reasons to Go to Ireland with me...

10.  The airfare at the end of September will be at least $300 less than it is in the summer.

  9.  While it tends to rain for a little while almost every day of the year in Ireland, on the average, it rains less than  one tenth of an inch in late September and early October.  No one goes to Ireland for the weather... but September/October sunshine will make it easy to enjoy Ireland.  Check out this link and you can key in the day and year that you'd like the weather forecast for...

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EINN/2012/9/29/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

I think you'll agree we've picked a good time to go.

 8.  My fabulously talented friend Pol MacAdaim has agreed to come to Westport to visit us, talk about his life in Belfast, and perform magnificent songs on the many traditional instruments that he plays.  You might even get to hear "The Internationale" sung in Irish!

7.   Paddy Downes,  the talented driver of our luxury coach, is also a marvelous bodhran player, step-dancer and turf-cutter.  We will find a way to get him to demonstrate all of his skills.

6.  Your tour includes ALL your breakfasts, ALL your accommodations, ALL admission fees to sponsored attractions, all ground transportation, THREE sumptuous dinners and at least one private concert by a fabulous Irish musician.

5. Western Ireland, where we are touring, is home to the best music and best musicians in Ireland... and we know when they're playing, and where they're playing, and we're your designated drivers!

4.  Staying at hotels for B and B prices gives you the best of both worlds as a traveler, economy and hospitality.  When we return from our pub crawls (er, I mean "musical experiences") the hospitality of the hotel is ours.  We can rehash our adventures, talk about the things we want to do on the tour, make some music, learn some songs, meet some of the other hotel guests.

3.  Most Irish tours are on great big buses.  You'll see the tourists being herded onto the buses, with their nametags emblazoned on their chests.  Their agenda is rigid.  Because we are three days in the same location we can pick the best time and best weather to take in the sights.  We can be flexible and catch spontaneous events that other tours miss.

2.  It's my pleasure to introduce you to some of the most interesting folks I've ever met.  You'll get to meet Niall Farrell, a great activist with a lot of insight.  You'll get to meet author Danny Donnelly and his wife, Caitriona McConnell Donnelly, fantastic storytellers and great students of Irish history.  You won't meet them on any other tour ...  They are very special to me, and I think you'll agree. 

1.  The best reason to come to Ireland now is - IT'S WITH ME!!! and all the fabulous tourmates you'll meet.  If you're bringing any special expertise to our tour, please let me know.  Our previous tours have been greatly enriched by gardeners, birders, geologists, painters, cartographers, photographers, musicians and singers.  Don't hold out on us! We've got less than two weeks together.  You'll see breathtaking scenery, learn oodles about Irish history and culture, meet some fabulous people, eat some great food, hear some unforgettable music -- but the pleasure is greatly enhanced by sharing this experience with so many interesting and like-minded tourmates.

JULY BIRTHDAYS

July 1st is my birthday.  The Summer of Solidarity Tour is a labor of love.  I'm the only one on the tour who can't take paid vacation to be part of the Summer of Solidarity.  It will probably cost me about $3500 to do the tour.  My birthday wish is to do the Summer of Solidarity Tour. If you'd like to help me do it, kindly send $35 (no donation is too small...) via Paypal to SOS2013@annefeeney.com or click on the "donate" box in the right margin of my blog or on the front page of http://annefeeney.com or mail it to me at 

2240 Milligan Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15218

July 2nd, Robin BerlinJuly 3rd, Suzanne Beers, Adam Moss, Pop Wagner, Pat Mitchell

July 5th, Gina Forsyth

July 7th, Cyd Cassone

July 8th, Michael Grefenstette, Kristen Grefenstette

July 10th, Cindy Sheehan, John Heyda, Judy Lane McCahill

July 12th, Arthur Krasinsky, Mike Williams, Ron Olesko and Suzanne McCahill Perrine

July 13th, Crow Johnson, Gus St. Anthony, Larry Evans

July 14th, Martha Lee Bohn, LE McCullough, Todd Samusson, Woody Guthrie

July 15th, Judy Fjell

July 16, Emily DeFerrari, Ben Manski and my triplet cousins Emma Colin and Tara Duncan!

July 17th Doug Clegg, Mark Ross

July 18th, Erin Grefenstette Henninger Graham Warwick

July 19th, George Frayne (aka Commander Cody), Michael Crouch, Turner Wright

July 20, Effron White

July 21st, Darcie Deaville

July 23, Monique Murad, Hilary Chiz, Dave Nachmanoff

July 25, Andrew McKnight, Bob Franke, Karen McCahill, Jim Mc Cahill

July 26, Joanne Nelson Powers

July 27, Rachel Stone, Randy Francisco, Susan Lewis

July 29, Colleen Nelson, Rain Day, Joanne Metcalfe

July 30, Marlo Mary Henninger

July 31, Burr Beard, Diane Crowe

GRADUATION CONGRATULATIONS TO

Casey Horne, Daniel McTiernan and Ashley Walch

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT

Bryan Reilly and Ashley Walch

See you next month!  Thanks so much for being on my mailing list and receiving the Fellow Travelers' Advisory.  Get my CDs at CDBaby - http://cdbaby.com/all/unionmaid

November 2012 - Anne Feeney's Fellow Travelers' Advisory - VOLUME EIGHT, Number 5

COME TO IRELAND WITH ME!!  SEPT 29th-OCT 8th, 2013

Here's something to think about during the holidays....

I'm thrilled and delighted to announce another Irish tour in 2013.  Early October has proven to be a very nice time to tour Ireland. How about  three days and nights in Westport, County Mayo, three in Clifden, County Galway, and three in Doolin, County Clare?  If you'd like all the details of this exciting trip, send me an email with your address, and I'll get one off to you immediately.



Have a look at my website for basic info on the tours and  also look as well at my friend Johnsmith's website.  http://johnsmithmusic.com/tour-ireland   Following my business partner and friend Tom Pigott's sudden death in February of this year, John stepped in and honored all of Tom's commitments - none of the 2012 tours were cancelled. He is operating now as Inishfree Irish music tours.

The cost for the tours is $2250 per person ( double occupancy) or $2600 single. Folks pay a $750 per person deposit via credit card upon signing up, then another $750 six months out, and the final $750 due three months out

I'm available and anxious to answer any questions you may have.  I love touring Ireland with my friends, and we will have the luxury coach of Paddy Downs at our service!  If you think you'd like to do this, DO IT!  I can only take 22 people, and I'm only doing one tour in 2013.  I'd love for you to be part of it.  Think it over during the holidays.  If I have 22 people signed up by January 15th, the tour is on ...  If I don't, I'll release the hotel rooms, or John will offfer the dates to someone else.  

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IMMEDIATE DESTINATIONS:

PITTSBURGH, PA - NEW YEAR'S EVE
CHICAGO, IL - HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
BURLINGAME, CA - WESTERN WORKERS' LABOR HERITAGE FESTIVAL
details at http://annefeeney.com/calendar.html

I'm very excited that my talented activist/songwriter/comrade Evan Greer is coming to Pittsburgh to do a "That Was the Year That Was - 2012 - a musical revue" at my house.  I'll also provide champagne and food at midnight.

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SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING NEW

My wonderful daughter Amy was invited to participate in a show on THE LEARNING CHANNEL.  They were seeking brides-to-be who are wearing heirloom or borrowed dresses instead purchasing a new one.  Amy is a prime candidate for this show because the dress she'll wear on December 15th when she and Mike Meadows tie the knot was originally worn by her paternal great grandmother. Celia Levin married Abraham Seder in 1913 and the dress remained in storage until I wore it in 1977 when I married Amy's dad, Ron Berlin.

The dress was very frail and in need of major repairs.  The show offered to absorb all the costs of restoring the dress and customizing it to Amy's style if we would tell the story of the dress on their show.  They also had a professional Hollywood buyer measure Amy and select five new designer dresses for her to consider. She could have a new designer dress, or the restored 100 year old dress.  The show brought me, Amy and three bridesmaids out to Burbank for a week of filming and modeling.  It was sooooooooooo much fun!

Here we are sushi-fying!

The crew: Me, associate producer Trish Vogel, Lindsay Crochet, Christina Hurt
Llewellyn Gannon and the bride - Amy Berlin

TA DA!  THOSE ELECTIONS

Go Tammy!  Go Claire!  Go Elizabeth!  Go Maine!  Go Colorado!  Go Washington!
We also had some great victories in Pennsylvania...
and I'm so pleased we won't have to listen to Paul Ryan, Todd AIken or Mr. Mourdoch of Ohio.any more.

Now it's time for the real work.  We've got to devote ourselves to resisting - resisting offshore drilling, resisting mountaintop removal, resisting the Alberta Tar Sands project, resisting hydraulic fracturing ...  protecting our water, our air and our soil.

We cannot allow cuts to Social Security or Medicare.  We cannot allow the privatization of the Postal Service.  We can't give up on universal health care.  We can't give up on our teachers.  We must bring the troops home now!  

Your dance card full yet?

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MILESTONES - FAMILY AND FRIENDS

It is with great sadness that I report the untimely passing of working-class hero Jerry Tucker.  He mentored me and countless others in organizing, strategy, history, struggle, activism, listening, surviving and winning.  He loved baseball, jazz and labor songs.  His passing, from pancreatic cancer on October 19th, is a devastating loss to the working class.  

He and I worked on so many campaigns together, starting with the AE Staley lockout in Illinois in the early 90's and most recently the campaign for single-payer healthcare.  His humor, generosity, dedication, knowledge, persistence and optimism were unsurpassed in this movement.                                                               

                                                                                    
And another labor legend left us on October 5th at the age of 94.  George Edwards, most recently of SOAR, as well as a 70+year member of the United Steelworkers.  He was a fixture at every local rally for jobs, health care, peace and justice. The last time I saw George was at the 2012 Labor Day Parade.  He walked the entire route. To learn more about my friend George Edwards, read his obituary at
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/obituaries/obituary-george-edwards-wilkinsburg-resident-was-usw-activist-every-day-of-his-life-656471/

The movement sustained another loss with the passing of Russell Means on October 22nd..  Russell Means spent a lifetime as a modern American Indian warrior. He railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen land and even took up arms against the federal government. Means, who died Monday from throat cancer at age 72, helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee — a bloody confrontation that raised America’s awareness about the struggles of Indians and gave rise to a wider protest movement that lasted for the rest of the decade.

Before AIM, there were few national advocates for American Indians.  Along with Dennis Banks, Means was one of the first to emerge. He sought to restore Indians’ pride in their culture and to challenge a government that had paid little attention to tribes in generations. He was also one of the first to urge sports teams to do away with Indian names and mascots. Means observed  "There were dozens, if not hundreds, of athletic teams that in essence were insulting us, from grade schools to college. That’s all changed.”

AIM was founded in the late 1960s to demand that the government honor its treaties with American Indian tribes. The movement eventually faded away, Means said, as Native Americans became more self-aware and self-determined.

Happy November Birthdays to Janet Feld, Sigi Nagys, Eric Schwartz, Jay Mankita, Pat Wynne, John Lilly, Alec Dubro, Rosann Barker, Amy Kurland, Dan Kenney, Kimberly Sever, James Durst, Mike Gremba, Pat LaManna, Shakeybean Cobb, Katie Hinde, Bill Pollak, Lloyd Cunningham, Mary Lane McCahill, Julie Leonardsson,  Marty Rosenberg, Darlene Buhler, Sheila Tiernan, Corry Metcalfe-Haendiges, Mark Perna, Shane Bartell, John Morber, Matt Watroba, Peter GIlmore, Kim Dobson, Bob Beach, Bob TIbbs, Dennis Soper, Jack Erdie, Vicki Guzman, Patty Spadaro, Larry Long, Scott Chesnick, Susie Howell, Christine Patberg, Ron Mann, Bayard Blain, Chuck Fink, Kathleen Mumphrey Chapman.

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THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  It's totally centered around food, family and friends... at least at my house.  No one is a football maniac.  In fact, our television wasn't on at all on Thanksgiving Day.  The kitchen was crowded with everyone helping to get the food to the table.  I am so incredibly grateful - more so every day - for the love and generosity of my friends that has lifted me from fear and sadness to gratitude and joy.  I can't possibly list everyone who has done something remarkably kind, thoughtful and generous for me.

L-R Kathleen Feeney, Casey Horne, Julie Leonardsson, Bryan Reilly, Ashley Walch, Kimberly Sever
(at table, not in pic) Amy Sue Berlin, Mike Meadows, Anne Feeney, Bill Feeney, Shirley Myers

Thank you for all your help and kindness to me over the past two years.  I don't know what 2013 has in store for me, but you've made it possible for me to live every day fully since my cancer diagnosis.  It's clear that I won't be able to return to my full work schedule for a while yet, and your support continues to be really important to me.  You can use the "Donate" button at http://annefeeney.com or send a check to me at 2240 Milligan Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA  15218.

I hope you'll buy my CDs as well ... http://cdbaby.com/all/unionmaid
I hope you're one of the 22 people who'll go to Ireland with me in 2013!

In solidarity,

Anne