John Reed, born on this day in 1887, was an American journalist, poet, and communist activist. Reed served as a war correspondent, covered strikes, interviewed Pancho Villa, and was an eyewitness to the October Revolution.
Reed was raised in an upper-class environment in the Pacific Northwest during the turn of the 20th century. He graduated from Harvard and showed interest in social issues, attending socialist club meetings. Three years after completing his studies he landed a job with the New York-based leftist magazine The Masses, which published articles by prominent radicals of the time.
As a determined champion of social justice, Reed covered strikes by silk mill workers in New Jersey and coal miners in Colorado. He was then sent to report on the Mexican revolution (1910 - 1920). He was appalled by the exploitation of laborers and Washington’s policy towards Mexico. "The United States Government is really headed toward the policy of ‘civilizing 'em with a Krag’ [a rifle used by American troops] - a process which consists in forcing upon alien races with alien temperaments our own Grand Democratic Institutions: I refer to Trust Government, Unemployment, and Wage Slavery," Reed wrote.
His series on Mexico, later published as a book titled Insurgent Mexico, enforced Reed's reputation as a war correspondent. When World War I broke out in Europe Reed traveled to the Continent on two occasions, resulting in his second book - The War in Eastern Europe.
However, his most famous work - Ten Days That Shook The World - was not about war, but rebellion. It was published in 1919 and described the events of the Russian revolution. Reed visited Russia in August 1917 and witnessed how the Bolsheviks seized power. He welcomed the uprising and was an enthusiastic supporter of the new socialist regime. "So, with the crash of artillery, in the dark, with hatred, and fear, and reckless daring, new Russia was being born," he wrote.
He met the two main leaders of the Bolshevik uprising in person, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, and was a big fan of the Bolshevik party. "Instead of being a destructive force, it seems to me that the Bolsheviki were the only party in Russia with a constructive program and the power to impose it on the country," Reed wrote in Ten Days That Shook The World.
The book was also widely praised by the public - even American diplomat George F. Kennan, who had no sympathy towards the Soviets - gave it a positive review: "Reed’s account of the events of that time rises above every other contemporary record for its literary power, its penetration, its command of detail."
Reed subsequently made a trip back to the U.S., where he vehemently defended the new Soviet Republic and was arrested three times, the last for violating the Sedition Act. After being acquitted, Reed returned to the USSR and again met with Lenin and Trotsky.
Reed died from spotted typhus while trying to return to the United States in 1920. He was given a state funeral and buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
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Thanks to them I can get all that shit at the thrift store for $5 when they pick up hiking to center themselves, then Marie Kondo their wardrobe by that fall
Word. The cool thing about all the fancy technical outdoor clothes is they tend to last forever, especially if the owner is just some yuppie lawyer from Seattle who goes on day hikes once a month. Which means the old stuff from twenty years ago is often just as good as the new stuff. I think my tent is like ~10 years old. My sleeping pad is at least that old. I've got camp knives older than I am. My camp cookwear belonged to one of my ancestors. My hiking hat is a cheap woven straw hat that I also used when I was doing landscaping. I shelled out for one of those fancy jetboil stoves, but I also have a buddy who makes high-efficiency alcohol stoves out of aluminum soda cans that weigh effectively nothing and will out-perform all but the most expensive high-tech camping stoves.
When the tent gets leaky there are water-proofing sprays that can fix it up to good as new condition. There are patch kits that will fix most damage to inflatable sleeping pads. I can sew, so I can do a lot of repairs to fabric gear. A lot of my camping stuff lives in the back of my car in case I have a break-down and need to overnight while I'm waiting for someone to come get me (this doesn't happen often I'm just paranoid).