John Evans

Against the Current, No. 57, July/August 1995

David Finkel

JOHN EVANS, A long-time socialist and activist in Detroit, died May 8 at age 78. John was a remarkable individual, whose working life included jobs as a factory worker, trucker and librarian and whose decades of political work ranged from civil liberties, anti-nuclear and anti-draft organizing to woodworker organizing and activism in the Sojourner Truth Organization.

In 1954, at the height of McCarthyism, John was fired from his job as a librarian. A couple of years ago, he contributed many hours of volunteer time in our office doing preliminary work toward the compilation of an Against the Current index, a project we hope to bring to fruition later this year. John was also a retired Unitarian Universalist minister.

John was suffering from a debilitating breathing illness which had become crippling. He chose to end his life, reportedly with the assistance of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, not only as a personal escape from suffering but as a final public statement on the right to die with dignity. We will miss him.

ATC 57, July-August 1995