Nicolas Walter
Nicolas Walter | |
---|---|
Born | Nicolas Hardy Walter 22 November 1934 South London, England |
Died | 7 March 2000 Milton Keynes, England | (aged 65)
Education | |
Occupations |
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Movement | |
Spouses | Ruth Oppenheim
(m. 1962; div. 1982)Christine Morris (m. 1987) |
Children | 2, including Natasha Walter |
Parent |
|
Relatives | Samuel Kerkham Ratcliffe (grandfather) |
Nicolas Hardy Walter (22 November 1934 – 7 March 2000) was a British anarchist and atheist writer, speaker and activist. He was a member of the Committee of 100 and Spies for Peace,[1] and wrote on topics of anarchism and humanism.
Background
Nicolas was the son of Katherine Monica (née Ratcliffe) and
Walter attended
Alongside his work for media associated with the causes that became his personal mission, as a working journalist Walter held editorial roles at
Peace movement activism
Walter was heavily involved in the peace movement, being a founder member of the Committee of 100.[1] Walter married Ruth Oppenheim, another member of the Committee of 100 in 1962, who was the daughter of refugees from Nazi Germany. The couple had two children, Susannah (born 1965) and Natasha Walter (born 1967), but divorced in 1982.[6]
Walter was a member of
In 1966, Walter was imprisoned for two months under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1860, after a protest against British support for the
Anarchism
Walter's book About Anarchism was first published in 1969. It went through many editions and has been translated into many languages. A revised edition was published in 2002, with a foreword by his daughter, the journalist and feminist writer Natasha Walter.[9]
Walter had a long association with Freedom Press and was a regular contributor to Freedom among other publications. The last writing he did appeared in Freedom.
A collection of his writings from Freedom and elsewhere was published in 2007 as The Anarchist Past and other essays, edited by David Goodway.
Rationalism, humanism and secularism
Walter was appointed Managing Editor of the Rationalist Press Association in 1975, but his progressive disability and the fact he was not, as Bill Cooke puts it, "a born administrator"[10] led to difficulties.
He was a prominent member of the
Walter was editor of the Rationalist Press Association's magazine New Humanist from February 1975 until July 1984, when Jim Herrick took over.
In 1989, in the aftermath of the fatwa on Salman Rushdie and his book The Satanic Verses, Walter (along with William McIlroy) re-formed The Committee Against Blasphemy Law. It issued a Statement Against Blasphemy Law, signed by more than 200 public figures. Walter and Barbara Smoker were attacked while counter-demonstrating during a Muslim protest against the book in May 1989. Walter's book "Blasphemy Ancient and Modern" put the Rushdie controversy into historical context.
Walter also served as company secretary of G. W. Foote & Co., publishers of The Freethinker, and was a vice-president of the National Secular Society.
Walter occasionally wrote or spoke about how
All of us will die, and most of us will suffer before we do so. "The last act is bloody, however fine the rest of the play may be," said Pascal. Raging against the dying of the light may be good art, but is bad advice. "Why me?" may be a natural question, but it prompts a natural answer: "Why not?" Religion may promise life everlasting, but we should grow up and accept that life has an end as well as a beginning.[12]
Publications
- Humanism: What's in the Word (1997). London: Rationalist Press Association, ISBN 1-57392-209-9.
- Blasphemy, Ancient and Modern (1990). London: Rationalist Press Association, ISBN 0-301-90001-9.
- About Anarchism (1969). London: ISBN 0-900384-90-5.
- Nonviolent Resistance: Men Against War (1963).
References
- ^ a b c d Walter, Natasha (13 April 2013). "Protest in an age of optimism: the 60s anarchists who spilled nuclear secrets". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ "Katharine Monica Ratcliffe - Arnold Hugh William Beck". slatters.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ Goodway, David (2001). "Nicolas Walter1934-2000" (PDF). Ethical Record. 107 (6): 3–9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (19 March 2000). "Nicolas H. Walter Dies at 65; Feisty Atheist and Anarchist". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "Nicolas Walter: Journalist and philosopher devoted to the unflinching pursuit of atheism and anarchism". The Guardian. 13 March 2000. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- ^ a b Walter, Natasha (14 February 2018). "Ruth Walter". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ a b Walter, Natasha (20 May 2002). "The NS Essay - How my father spied for peace". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ISBN 9781604862225. Archivedfrom the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ "ABOUT ANARCHISM by Nicolas Walter (with and intro by Natasha Walter)" Archived 24 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. ChristieBooks.
- ISBN 1-59102-196-0
- ^ a b MacKillop, I. D. (1986), The British Ethical Societies, Cambridge University Press, [online]. Accessed 13 May 2014.
- ^ Walter, Nicolas (1993). "Death". Letter to The Guardian.
Further reading
- Rooum, Donald (March 13, 2000). "Nicolas Walter". from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
External links
- "The Right to Be Wrong". Essay by Nicolas Walter. Libertarian Alliance Political Notes No. 43, 1989.
- "Nicolas Walter: an appreciation of his contribution to secular humanism". Sheffield Humanist Society, 2000.
- Nicolas Walter papers at the International Institute of Social History.
- "Anarchism: A ‘Revisionist’ Approach by Nicolas Walter" 1960, Freedom Press