Ten years ago today, Harry's Last Stand was published. That Harry Leslie Smith's past is our present is the fault of neoliberalism.

It's hard for me to believe it was a decade ago today when Harry's Last Stand was published. A lifetime of steps was needed to arrive- at that moment, when Harry Leslie Smith's final act reached lift-off, and- he became, for the remainder of his days- The World's Oldest Rebel.

Someone once described my Dad's “last stand” between 2010 and 2018 as "capturing lightning in a bottle."

In 2014, Harry Leslie Smith was the Cometh the Hour, cometh the man for left-wing politics. He was untarnished by modern politics, journalism or society as he lived a modest middle class existence since the end of the Second World war that was granted to him by a progressive Welfare State.

He was an unvarnished outsider- who had survived the Great Depression and World War Two. He bridged yesterday and today by articulating the importance of the Welfare State in the 21st century to younger generations. Harry did it successfully because he lacked nostalgia for the "good old days."

Books like Harry's Last Stand or his five other books don't often see the light of day in a world where corporate publishers control the means of disseminating information. The age we live in is one of McMemoirs and committee-driven political books which are written to preserve the status quo and advance an author's career in television punditry.

If you want to witness rank cynicism, spend an evening in a pub with book agents and publicists because they always have a Glengarry Glen Ross sheen to their words and actions. To be fair- newspaper people are on equal footing with them when on the piss.

A journalist at my dad's wake spent an equal amount of time shit-talking Corbyn and turning my dad into some Barnsley, plastic Jesus political bobblehead. Yet, two years before his treacle tears over my dad's death, I met him in passing in the House of Parliament and mentioned my father's desire to do more for the refugee crisis. He responded with mocking sarcasm.

Harry's Last Stand only happened because my dad was lucky that a hungry, young book agent found him while trolling Facebook for interesting new voices. There, he read posts from my father about the creep of privatisation in the NHS.

After contacting my dad, the agent persuaded him to write a book proposal. Although my dad appreciated the agent's salesmanship, he politely ignored advice- that included- being more like Polly Toynbee in your writing.

My father couldn't because he came to his socialism in boyhood after being made to eat from rubbish bins because capitalism had gone feral in the 1930s. My father understood- what no centrist, faux-socialist can ever- life is a brutal battle for most. If you sell out the vulnerable for your self-interest on the pretence that incrementalism is a game of swings and roundabouts, you are despicable beyond measure.

I accompanied my dad to London on June 5th as he began the UK book tour for Harry's Last Stand. The initial reception of both him and his book was favourable. The book had political and literary merit, and my father, when required, had buckets of charm. It becomes much easier- to find allies to your cause if you are in your 90s but see the world as a tolerant, cosmopolitan thirty-five-year-old. For some, my father reminded them of their granddad. But for others, Harry reminded them of who their granddad was not- an open-minded, caring bloke.

In no time, Len McClusky General Secretary of Unite the Union, was in his corner, along with Bella Mackie at the Guardian. Ross Wynn-Jones from the Daily Mirror stood by him and championed his cause until my father's death.

Moreover, his publisher was supportive because it was one of the few publishing houses not controlled, at the time, by a large corporation.

Harry's Last Stand was part memoir, political treatise, and outrage prose poem against the dying of the light for the Welfare State. The book caught on fire after the Guardian published an excerpt from it the night before publication.

After that, James O'Brien had my father on his program to read aloud from the book to his listeners.

When my father prepared to leave the LBC studio after his reading, O'Brien spoke to me with the superciliousness that only comes from years of being a radio talk show host.

"Take care of him because he is special; you know?

No question, my dad was special, and I didn't need to be told that by a wealthy talk show host.

My dad was special for many reasons. But one reason he was extra special was because he trusted me so much in 2010 after I told him what we must do to survive the grief over having lost his son Peter from pulmonary Fibrosis when he was only 50 years old.

My dad was ready for death then and had stopped living because he felt his life was a failure as he was not able to save his son.

"Die, you will. But before then, we must write. We must write about the past, the present and the future. We must write until there is nothing left to tell of you, that wretched world of your youth. We must write and not stop writing until someone listens and stops your past from becoming another generation's future."

 On publication night my dad and I after a long day returned to our hotel room, shared a nightcap. We then turned on a radio in our hotel room and dance together as father and son.

 It was a joyful dance because we believed we had established a beachhead for something more permanent and lasting to be built on.

Ten years later I know that I was naïve to believe my father’s words would resonate with the entitled. However they did stick with many of you and that is a great victory. I don't regret the dance I had with my dad for the 55 years of my life until he died. As for Harry's Last Stand, and all the books that were written and all the books to be written, I carry on for them, him, Peter, my mother and me. I carry on  because there is nothing else I'd rather do or can do until I am dead or his message is heard again.

Tonight I will dance by myself to the memory of Harry’s Last Stand being published ten year ago. I am not sad by it because I am really not alone and the journey is still one hell of a ride.

Thanks for reading and supporting my Substack. Your support keeps me housed and also allows me to preserve the legacy of Harry Leslie Smith. A yearly subscriptions will cover much of next month’s rent. Your subscriptions are so important to my personal survival because like so many others who struggle to keep afloat, my survival is a precarious daily undertaking. The fight to keep going was made worse- thanks to getting cancer along with lung disease and other co- morbidities which makes life more difficult to combat in these cost of living crisis times. So if you can join with a paid subscription which is just 3.50 a month or a yearly subscription or a gift subscription. I promise the content is good, relevant and thoughtful. But if you can’t it all good too because I appreciate we are in the same boat. Take Care, John