Jean Brust Tribute World
Socialist Web Site
The remarks of Steve Brust, Jean's son
Today we conclude the coverage of the May 17 memorial meeting
in Minneapolis which honored the life of Jean Brust, a founding
member of the Workers League, the predecessor of the Socialist
Equality Party, who devoted six decades of her life fighting
for a socialist future for mankind. Below we reprint the remarks
of Steve Brust, Jean's surviving son and a prominent author of
science fantasy novels in his own right. In addition, we are
including messages sent to the memorial meeting from leading
members and sections of the International Committee of the Fourth
International.
Three times in this decade Cynthia and I have heard members
of the movement mark the passing of a family member we love,
so I think it's time we responded.
In the first place, I speak also for Cynthia when I say that
it helps ease the pain a little to hear how valued Mom, and Dad,
and Leo were to the party that was so central to their lives.
To say that one can judge an organization by the character
of its members would be an oversimplification; but consider that
this is a movement to which people devote the greater part of
their energies over the course of their lifetimes. To me, there
is no question that the revolutionary party around which I grew
up and in which my parents spent their whole life is mirrored
by the character of its members.
I believe--because I was brought up to believe--that the measure
of success of a human life is the degree to which one makes the
world better. Similarly, the worth of a human being rests on
the value of his principles, and the degree to which those principles
are put into practice. Growing up as a child of Bill and Jean
Brust gave me the happiness, as well as the burden, of, I think,
the highest standards of human character. Those were the sort
of people who built the movement to which they belonged, and
those are the sorts of people who make up its membership today.
We have seen ten thousand times how failures of perspective reflect
flaws of character, and how political integrity mirrors personal
integrity. No, it isn't a simple and straightforward connection;
nevertheless the connection exists.
They were very different people: Dad would have preferred
to have been born after the revolution; I think he'd have liked
to have devoted his energies to making a rational society better,
rather than making an irrational society rational. Mom, on the
other hand, gloried in the fight. And I suspect Leo never gave
the matter any thought--there was work that needed to be done,
so he did it, and nothing short of perfection was acceptable,
as anyone who worked around him knew. Three unique people, devoted
to one cause. But what they had in common was their drive, their
commitment, and their integrity--and that is what they have in
common with you who are today continuing that fight.
I want to add that neither Mom nor Dad magically appeared,
fully developed, as the sort of people they became. They had
as a base, a family. My father's father was an active revolutionist
before coming to this country: a man with a booming laugh and
a love of good food, good music, and life; my mother's father,
a proud, warm-hearted Jewish patriarch of the old school, was
as fine a man as I have ever known. From these sources, Mom and
Dad inherited a love of learning, a love of family, a love of
justice, a love of life, as well as a deep desire to apply their
learning to make the world better.
All of which is to say that I--and I speak for Cynthia as
well in this, too--count myself profoundly lucky to have been
able to live for so long, with, around, and among not only a
kind, loving, and wonderful family, and I include in this our
full family, of Tilsens and Marveys and Appels and cousins and
children and grandchildren; but also in the midst the kind of
the people who make up the movement to which Mom and Dad and
Leo devoted their lives.
As far as Cynthia and I are concerned, this in no way marks
our end as supporters of the movement, any more than it marks
our end as members of the extended family to which we belong;
you can all count on our continued support and affection. It
is an honor and a privilege and a joy to have been able to live
among you.
See Also:
Remarks of SEP Central Committee member
Fred Mazelis
to the May 17, 1998 Memorial Meeting in Minneapolis
A Tribute to Jean Brust
Speech by David North to the May 17, 1998 Memorial Meeting in
Minneapolis
Messages from the world Trotskyist
movement
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