Page updated:
Friday, 7 September 2007

SPECIAL REPORT...

History rerun - Sydney's radical past revisited...

The people

Satisfied they will not be seen, a young man and woman get out of the mini, open the boot and extract a compact but weighty object. Looking around cautiously, they carry it to the railing and shove it over. A splash, a few bubbles, a gurgle and it's gone, sinking below the dark surface. Their job done, they drive up the hill in the direction of Balmain.

One day, divers may find the rusting remains of a public phone just off Balmain wharf... one of those red phones that were found outside grocery shops in the late 1960s. They will not know how it came to be there, delivered in the darkness by two people in a small car. Nor will they know that those two did not steal the phone. Someone else, their identity long lost to memory, had done that. The two were simply asked to remove it. This they had done, permanently.

The incident illustrates the point that many of those around the New Left shared a somewhat adventurous attitude to life that sometimes treated the law with serious disregard.

A stopover in life

It was only a weekend experience for many... the Saturday evening parties and folk music performances, the Sunday night films. Their association with Resistance and the bookshop was short lived for most, nothing more than a stopover in life. They lacked the commited political belief demanded of the organisation's core. Perhaps, attracted by the prospect of a new politics, they became alienated when they found an old Marxism at its centre.

The people who made up Sydney's radical political culture of the time were for the most part young, within the 17 to 35 age bracket, their outlook shaped by the wider youth culture. Then in their formative years, especially those fresh from high school, their experience of Resistance and the bookshop became part of their growing-up, their coming of age.

And what a range of experience there was - socialisation, the building of interpersonal relationships, learning about the world and the forces shaping it, cooperative action, sexual experience.

It is impossible to recall all those who came and went, but a few stand out...

John Percy

The rear room of number 35 was home to John Percy and, at times, to his girlfriend, Sue Andrews.

John was the real politico, the dedicated, life-long revolutionary attracted to a leftist politics developed in Sydney University student's union and Resistance. His and his brother Jim's leading role in Resistance steered it through the tumultuous years of the Vietnam war.

With Bob Gould, the Percy brothers ran Resistance. This was a natural leadership born of political experience and knowledge powered by a revolutionary vision. The pragmatic but undemocratic arrangement did not bother most members although it was to surface as an issue when the organisation split.

After the Vietnam war ended, John put his energies into Green Left and the Democratic Socialist Party. The newspaper sought to capitalise on the rising political strength of the environment movement, the same movement Gould had denigrated as nothing more than middle class.

John can still be seen today on the outskirts of demonstrations and on the city's streets selling Green Left. His life is one of dedication to a long-term goal.

Bluey Fisher

It was in pursuit of amorous adventures that late one night Bluey drove to his girlfriend's family house in the Western Suburbs. She was a young woman of Latvian descent, slightly taller than Bluey, and had been recruited by the high schools against the war group. The two had kept company for some time, unknown to the girls parents, who were also probably unaware that she spent weekend days with a leftist political movement.

Arriving at the house, Bluey didn't knock on the door. Instead, he climbed through the window of his girlfriend's bedroom.

Perhaps it was because they were exhausted by their exertions that they were still asleep when dawn came. The girl's father, however, was not. Intending to wake his daughter to start the day, he opened the bedroom door and, it is safe to conclude, was a little more than surprised to discovering his daughter curled up against some unknown male.

He was called Bluey on account of his short red hair. In his late 20s or early 30s, Bluey Fisher was genuine Australian working class in a largely middle class political movement. He had an easy-going personality and a happy-go-lucky manner that made light of things. These characteristics, with his broad Australian accent, set him apart from others at Goulburn Street.

Bluey Fisher atop the Resistance combi. Keith James at right.

Bluey's day work was driving a meat delivery truck and for awhile he lived in one of the rooms above the bookshop. He worked hard for the movement, printing posters and pasting them around the city and doing the numerous other things needed to keep it going. On demonstrations he was vocal without being threatening. Bluey was politically committed but with a light, less serious touch that would have made his message more digestible.

After Resistance folded Bluey moved to northern NSW.

Brian Childs

Brian, with his trim dark beard, was always friendly and approachable. The beret he wore gave him the air of a Cuban revolutionary, an effect enhanced when he wore his Che Guevara T-shirt. In other surroundings he could have passed as an avant-garde artist.

A sometime resident of 35 Goulburn Street, his politics were more subdued than those of Bluey or John Percy, yet he too was a hard worker for Resistance and was often found at the silk screen press or the Gestetner, running off newsletters.

Like many from that milieu, Brian eventually moved to northern NSW where he, his brother, Megan James, Lin Stanton and Roger Garlic lived on an intentional community near Bellingen. He later moved to Brisbane.

From left: Brian Childs, Albert Langer (a visiting Maoist from Melbourne), Megan James, Barbara Enge

Megan James

She was a sweet young woman, Megan James. Slightly shorter than Brian, straight black hair falling down her back and framing the olive skin and large dark eyes of her face. Hers' was a quiet and less politically committed presence.

Megan was not a resident; she was one of those people who visited Goulburn Street and participated in activities without becoming caught up in the core of the organisation. As with a fair number of the young women who came to the premises, Megan teamed up with someone involved in the organisation - Brian Childs. The two of them formed a quiet, unobtrusive alliance which lasted for some time.

At the conclusion to the Resistance years Megan moved with Brian to Bellingen. She later moved into Tuntable Falls, a pioneering intentional community near the villlage of Nimbin, NSW. She now works in a remote community in Central Australia.

Roger Garlick

Roger Garlick was a member of a trio of close friends that included Brian and Megan. More outgoing than the other two, he was tall and wore his hair in the 'Afro' style popularised by Jimmy Hendrix.

In his early twenties, Roger was to be found at the movement's parties, the Sunday book stand at the Domain, at film screenings and doing the work of Resistance.

With Brian and Megan, Roger moved to an intentional community in the Bellingen area.

Keith James

Keith James, my class mate at Brisbane State High, occupied the streetside room at the front of number 37, above the bookshop.

His life was that of the dedicated politico. A man of modest needs and few material possessions, Keith dedicated much of his time to the organisation even when he was not working in the bookshop. Keith's knowledge of Marxism was thorough and his drawing on it to make a point brought him an authoritative presence in any discussion.

Keith's evolution from quiet high school student to leftist radical remains a mystery. Just what distracted a presumably comfortable young man from the promise of middle-class life to society's politically radical fringe?

Keith formed an alliance with Barbara Enge in one of the relationships that flowered at Goulburn Street.

Keith passed away from AIDS in the 1990s. It was quite a surprise to learn that he was gay, possibly bisexual. That was something he had kept to himself.

Barbara Enge

Barbara was typical in that she was a young, middle class woman who came into Resistance through the High School Students Against the War in Vietnam group.

A vivacious and personable young woman, Barbara's tall, lithe figure was topped with a head of crinkly red hair which she wore tied back in a bun. She was a good-natured woman who had a degree of political commitment,

Rod Webb

A man of medium height with flowing but not long blond hair, Rod Webb was a film-buff. He organised the film screenings that were a regular Sunday night feature at Resistance.

Rod did not appear to be a member of the core political team at Resistance although Southwood Press - the printing business of which he was director or perhaps part-owner - had once been associated with one of Sydney's earlier Trotskyite groups.

Southwood published material sold through the Third World Bookshop, such as the Che Geuvara poster, the 'wanted' poster for a seditious Jesus Christ and the 'save water - shower with a friend' poster. All naughty stuff in the late-60s. Southwood published the first edition of Socialist Review in 1970.

There was a rumour that Rod was gay, however he seemed to get on quite well with the women around the Goulburn Street premises.

Icky, John Dease and Crisdella

One day she was a slim, vivacious and healthy young woman. The next time Crisdella came around she was limping. The event which led to this sudden transformation occurred when Icky, John Dease and she went motor cycle riding one night - all on the one bike. She ended up with lower leg injuries while the other two escaped unharmed. Crisdella was a remote, quiet, ethereal type who maintained an air of aloofness without being snobbish. She kept company with Icky and John.

Maybe Icky was just overly-extroverted. A frequent visitor to Goulburn Street, he was regarded as just a little crazy. He wasn't mentally disturbed, perhaps, he was just, well, very exuberant. A thick fuzz of hair added to this impression of him. Not that he acted strangely all the time, he was more than capable of rational discussion. Icky did not participate much in the workings of the place, he was more of a visitor on weekends.

His friend was John Dease, son of a prominent broadcaster. John was less exuberant than Icky but the two of them were always together.

Like so many others, the trio were a presence around Resistance for some time, but then, suddenly it seems, they vanished.

Yvonne Gluyas

Yvonne was a young girl who dressed in the downmarket chic of the time - khaki military jacket, blue jeans and, sometimes, a dark blue beret.

Yvonne Gluyas. Like the author and Fred Davis, Yvonne was frequently seen with a camera around her neck. Rob Dummet in background.

Lively, extroverted and vivacious, Yvonne was living with her grandmother at Castle Hill when she first made contact with Resistance. She was then working in catering for the railways, disappearing for a couple days at a time on the North Coast overnight express.

Yvonne stayed around the organisation for some time and joined the Gould faction after Resistance split.

In the post-Resistance world she bought a house in Stanmore with her then-partner, Fred Davis. Yvonne and Fred eventually split and she later moved to Launceston, Tasmania. In the 1990s she left her job producing a newspaper for a pensioner's lobby to spend several years in China, initially teaching English then moving to China Television (CCTV) and Beijing Review, where she was foreign editor. She returned to Australia in 2003 to spend time with her children.

In the early 1970s Yvonne and the author, her sister Sol, Rob Dummet, Charmaine Gibson, Paul Schubeck and a changing population of others shared a three storey terrace at 68 Cathedral Street, Wooloomooloo.

Rob Dummett worked with the Post Office and had an association with Resistance and the bookshop for some years. He was a gentle, quiet young man, not an overt politico, who became associated with the Gould faction. With the dissilusion of the movement in the early-1970s, Rob went his own way. He continues to live in Sydney.

Yvonne's sister, Sol, was a sometime visitor to the Resistance premises but was not into the politics. She became pregnant just before moving into Cathedral Street and later gave birth to her first daughter, Sasha.

Fred Davis

A politico who later allied with the Gould faction after the split with the Percy's, Fred Davis was a printer from Sydney's Western Suburbs.

Fred participated in the political and social life of Resistance, putting in time in the bookshop. He later became Yvonne Gluyas' partner and in the 1990s moved to Tasmania.

Mandy Nicholson

Mandy Nicholson was a young North Shore woman from middle class Greenwich. Never a politico, she was attracted to Resistance while a student at a Chatswood Girls High School.

Mandy Nicholson later went to live on the NSW north coast.

A visitor mainly on weekends, Mandy participated in the social activities of Goulburn Street, often in the company of her friends Zelda - a young woman with long, straight, black hair that cascaded down her back, Perry - a quiet woman with strawberry blonde hair, pale skin and placid temperament, and Margy, a thin girl with long, wavy red hair. All came from Sydney's lower North Shore.

In the years following Resistance, Mandy joined Bagwan Shree Rajneesh's 'Orange People' and changed her name to Mohanna. She later moved to the north of the state where she managed a Lismore bookshop.

Lin Stanton

Lin was an easy-going and sometimes jovial New Zealander who was a close friend of Keith James and Brian Childs. He occupied one of the Goulburn Street rooms.

Lin did a lot of work around the place and was a Maoist - a follower of China's Mao Zedong. A committed politico, Lin stayed with Resistance for most of its existence then accompanied Brian and Roger to Bellingen. He was last heard of running a record store in Hobart.

So many others

Events and characters appear in memory. Faces known... faces without names. There were so many.

From left: Rob Dummett, Bronwyn Spencer, Russ Grayson (photo: Yvonne Gluyas)

Long term relationships blossomed at Goulburn Street - Brian and Megan, Keith and Barbara, John Percy and Sue, Jim Percy and Anita, Mandy and the author, Roger and Tara.

Tara... Tara Walesby was a short, slim woman with long dark hair. She was partner to Roger Garlick, her slight figure a marked contrast to Roger's tallness. A frequent and happy presence at Goulburn Street, Tara disappeared on a trek in Nepal.

Christine, a slim, quiet girl from the suburbs, shoulder length dark hair parted down the middle, was a weekend visitor who claimed to be confused about her sexuality, but not all the time.

Debby Gold, a blonde woman from the North Shore, came to Goulburn Street for the parties and films but was not interested in the politics of the place. She was a little snooty and formed temporary relationships with one or two of the Resistance males, one of whom she made snide remarks about whenever she saw him at the bookshop - she did not appreciate being dumped. Her mother lived in an apartment on Sydney's lower North Shore and had a boyfriend, a psychologist then working for the Army. Deb's mother was upset to discover that her psychologist boyfriend was taking quite an interest in analysing her daughter, too.

Boys and girls, men and women

Caught at the transition from youth to adulthood, boys and girls became men and women at the same time they encountered Resistance and the Third World Bookshop. Here they learned about themselves and the world and formed relationships, temporary and longer term. These were years of discovery and experimentation and it was inevitable that partnerships would come out of a situation in which young men and women worked together.

The spirit of the times can take the blame for that. These were the years when sexuality came out of the closet, thanks to the women's movement that made its start at the time and the availability of the new contraceptive pill. It was the time of life and we were young, some just emerging from teen into adulthood.

The political leadership of Resistance - Gould and the Percy brothers - was a little older than their followers. For most of the time that group had stable partnerships but for the others there was an undercurrent of male-famale liaison that underlaid the politics and youth culture and the exuberance of the time.

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