Comrades and friends will be saddened to hear that Don Trudell, a long-standing member of the SWP and its predecessor the International Socialists, died recently.
He left the US in 1969 against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and taught for many years in West London at North Westminster School and the American School in London.
Don was a prominent activist in the National Union of Teachers.
He was centrally involved in anti-racist struggles and the fight for equal opportunities that emanated from union members in London schools.
These later came to be adopted more formally by the Inner London Education Authority.
As a teacher he was respected by his students for his warm and friendly manner and a teaching style that taught them not what to think, but how to think for themselves.
He was a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights.
To take one example, in 2004 Don contributed an article to Socialist Review condemning Ariel Sharon’s expansion of the settlements on the West Bank.
He stressed the need for a Palestinian solidarity movement on a scale of those against South African apartheid and the Vietnam War.
All of his colleagues remember how his serious commitment to his political beliefs was also accompanied by a dry and mischievous sense of humour that helped to provide a much-needed sense of perspective to the struggle.
In later years he was not able to be as politically active as he had previously been, but he remained a revolutionary to the last.
He is survived by his children Megan, Kate and Anna, their mother Pauline and grandchildren Dominic, Noah and India.
We send them our condolences and solidarity.
Socialist, trade unionist and working class fighter has died
