Coming out of a round of successful fund-raising meetings in several cities around the country, supporters of the Pathfinder Fund are discussing how to increase pledges and raise their local goals. They are responding to the political opportunities to distribute the revolutionary books and pamphlets published by Pathfinder Press, and to the need to raise substantial funds to keep the publishing program going.

With two weeks left in the drive, supporters are shifting gears in their efforts to close the $22,500 gap between the total of local goals and the international target of $125,000. A number of cities still need to talk to all supporters in their area in order to get pledges up to their adopted goals. Systematic work by socialist workers and Young Socialists along the lines of what is being done by supporters in Houston is needed in every city. The fund runs through December 15.

Developing a regional fund-raising list is a must for any proletarian organization. This includes both long-term supporters of Pathfinder, and the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial, and those who have recently met the communist movement. In face of the imperialist war against Afghanistan and the assault on workers' rights in the United States, many will stretch their available funds in order to give generously to a publishing house that combats the rulers' rationalizations for war and repression and presents a working-class perspective in the fight for a new society.  
 
Volunteer work project
On the final weekend of the drive supporters of Pathfinder are planning a volunteer work project at the Pathfinder building in New York. The project includes maintenance work, organizing photographic files of Pathfinder and the Militant, setting up computers, and work to reorganize the printshop of the publishing house. The December 15–16 volunteer project will include a celebration of the work of the communist movement over the past several months as it campaigns against imperialism and war.

The workers, farmers, and youth that spoke at the fund-raising meetings last weekend brought to life the class struggle experiences contained in the more than 350 titles published and distributed by Pathfinder.

Supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, went over the original $1,400 goal at their meeting. "Until recently I never imagined such books existed," said Juan Valadez at a meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. Valadez, a meatpacking worker from Omaha, Nebraska, who is active in the union-organizing drives at his plant, spoke at a panel of workers, a farmer, and youth on the impact that Pathfinder titles have had on their political life.

Among those commenting on the importance of reading Pathfinder books and keeping them in print was Larry Ginter, a veteran farmer activist, and Bob Peters, a member of the Communication Workers of America.

Mark Westerberg, a 21-year-old student who also works at a bagel bakery, described Pathfinder books as an excellent source of material for those opposed to imperialist wars. "It's only because of Pathfinder that we can read today of the last 150 years of the struggles of the peoples of the world," he added.

In Atlanta, 47 people showed up at a grand opening of the new Pathfinder bookstore and fund benefit titled: "The War against Afghanistan and the Struggle against Imperialism Today," featuring Ma'mud Shirvani, Pathfinder's Farsi-language editor. Among the participants were activists involved in actions against police abuse and racial profiling.

By the end of the weekend Atlanta had gone over their raised goal of $4,300. They now have a new goal of $5,000. In Detroit, supporters increased their goal for the third time and are looking forward to meeting the international target. Supporters are encouraged to send in their reports on goals, plans, and fund-raising activities projected for the next two weeks.

If you would like to get involved or make a contribution, contact your nearest Pathfinder Bookstore listed on page 12, or send in your check to Pathfinder, 410 West Street New York, NY 10014.
 

BY RUTH CHENEY  
OAKLAND, California--Nine Pathfinder titles were prepared digitally by scores of Pathfinder Reprint Project volunteers in several countries during November.

The completed titles were: Nueva Internacional no. 1, which is the Spanish edition of "Opening Guns of World War III"; Israel's War Against the Palestinian People; El Guerrerismo de EUA y la crisis económica mundial; Building Socialism in Cuba; Samizdat; Speeches for Socialism; Woman's Evolution; Malcolm X Speaks in hardcover edition; and the Writings of Leon Trotsky 1938-39.

More than 60 percent of the publishing house's titles are now available on CD-ROM's, which can quickly and easily be used to produce these books in Pathfinder's printshop. Project volunteers have set a goal of having 75 percent of Pathfinder titles on CDs by the end of June 2002.

The Pathfinder Reprint Project was launched in early 1998 with a goal of converting all the books that existed only on film at that time to CD-ROM's.

Now, the staff of the Pathfinder printshop can put the digital files prepared by the reprint team directly on their modern computer-to-plate equipment. This allows the plates that go on the shop's printing presses to be prepared in a matter of hours, not days, as was the case when the books existed only on film and a much more labor-intensive method of production was required.

These November reprint project accomplishments came on the heels of completing an average of seven titles each of the previous four months. Janice Prescott is a New York volunteer who organizes the team that does the final preparation of the books and places the digital files and reproduced digital covers on CDs. She explained, "In the past we have occasionally turned in a large number of CDs, but usually there were very few the months before or after. We now are consistently turning in seven, eight, and even nine without turning ourselves inside out. This is real progress."

The pace of work that makes it possible to send this many completed titles to Pathfinder each month is picking up throughout every area of the project. An example of this is the work on graphics, which is headed up by Bobbi Sack, a volunteer from Cincinnati. This team reproduces electronically the attractive Pathfinder covers and also photo signatures and other graphical images that are found in the books. Sack noted that in November the graphics team also had its best month. "We really have something to celebrate! Last month, for the first time, we sent graphics files for 10 books to the CD team--that magic number that has eluded us for so long!

"Our quality has not suffered," added Sack. "In the last several months we have received many reports back from Pathfinder's editorial department noting that they had 'no corrections at all' to the work the graphics team prepared."

A few months ago the reprint volunteers also undertook the responsibility of helping the publishing house prepare its online catalog for a January 1 launch. Reprint volunteers have finished entering into a catalog database all the relevant information on each Pathfinder title, from author to an international standard book number commonly called an ISBN number. This information will now be carefully proofread by the volunteers. They are also preparing the digital images of the book covers so that a substantial number of the attractive covers produced by Pathfinder can be viewed by anyone who logs onto the new web site after the first of the year.

The staff of Pathfinder's printshop also had a busy month producing Pathfinder titles. Fifteen titles were newly printed during November, coming on the heels of 10 titles printed in October. For more information or to join the Pathfinder Reprint Project, please e-mail Ruthchen@pacbell.net

Ruth Cheney is a member of the five-person Pathfinder Reprint Project Steering Committee  
 
 
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