Dear Dan and friends at AARC,
Ralph Schoenman.
I am writing to inform you of the death of my former husband and dearest friend, Ralph Schoenman, on July 3rd after a long bout with Parkinson’s. Ralph lived a principled and unselfish life. The author of “War Crimes in Vietnam” was not Bertrand Russell, but Ralph who believed the ideas would fare better coming from the philosopher, but it was Ralph who brought the issue of fragmentation bombs (“cluster” bombs of today) into the light at the war crimes tribunal.
Ever generous with his time and thoughts, Ralph never sought credit for his ideas, or the limelight, ever.
Shortly after the JFK assassination, Ralph organized the “Who Killed Kennedy? Committee, consisting of the best and brightest of British thinkers, among them Hugh Trevor-Roper, who spoke out on the issue without hesitation. Having trouble financing his research, Mark Lane stayed at Ralph’s London apartment to write “Rush to Judgment.” If someone was in trouble, Ralph never withheld his resources and his assistance. When my mother faced a brutal domestic situation, Ralph boarded the next flight to Florida ready to lend his service.
I cannot summon enough superlatives to describe Ralph.
Best to all,
Joan Mellen
[Professor Joan Mellen is a prolific and distinguished author, historian, and educator; an authority on Jim Garrison and his investigation of President Kennedy’s assassination which caused ripples and reverberations within the federal government’s halls of power; she is the bestselling author of twenty-four books, including A Farewell to Justice, her biographical study of Jim Garrison’s New Orleans investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Faustian Bargains: Lyndon Johnson and Mac Wallace in the Robber Baron Culture of Texas, and her latest, Blood in the Water, an investigation into the sinking of the USS Liberty. She has written for innumerable publications, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Baltimore Sun. Mellen taught English and creative writing, and is a professor emerita at Temple University in Philadelphia. In 2004, she was awarded one of Temple University’s coveted “Great Teacher” awards for outstanding achievement. Visit Professor Mellen’s Author’s Page at Amazon.]
Ralph Schoenman (born 1935) was an American social and civil-rights activist who served as a personal secretary to Bertrand Russell and became general secretary of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. He was involved in a number of projects supported by Russell, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the Committee of 100 and an unofficial war crimes tribunal to try American leaders for their conduct in the Vietnam War.
His indefatigable work as an activist and commentator continued into the 21st Century. Since 2002, Schoenman worked with his wife, documentary filmmaker, Mya Shone, providing commentary for radio stations in many parts of the United States and Canada, and produced the “Taking Aim” radio show, billed as “Uncompromising, fact intensive exposés of the hidden workings of a capitalist system addicted to permanent war.” Around 2009 their program was moved from broadcasting over WBAI to an Internet webcast.
Click HERE to read his November 28, 1963 New York Review of Books response to a negative review by Malcolm Muggeridge of a book (Unarmed Victory) by Lord Russell.