Barry Pateman 1951-2026

Thanks for posting, comrade!

sad news

Most of the hard copies of the historical American anarchist and IWW materials I've transcribed or scanned for libcom were donated to the Kate Sharpley Library and the main person I dealt with was Barry. He was a pleasure to work with. Rest in peace.

Thanks, comrades. And thanks for the publications, Juan!

Rest in power. I've often used the Kate Sharpley Library–he was definitely engaged in important work for a better world. Condolences to friends and family

Thanks, comrade.

I only met Barry a few times, during his stay in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Once at a talk he gave and a couple of times socially. He struck me as having retained a common sense approach to his anarchism, away from academic ivory tower stuff or sectarianism, despite being very knowledgeable and experienced. He was forthright and didn't shy away from tough issues.

Thank you, comrade.

James Birmingham and Hillary Lazar have a bit on the Freedom website:

"He also modelled what it meant to be a committed mentor to a whole generation of us. The wellspring of tributes to his memory this past week alone is a testament to that. How many of us crossed paths with him over the decades and came away inspired to stay in the struggle and, even more so, stay true to our radical paths–be it as teachers, or writers, or organisers, or fighters, or stewards of radical texts as he and his partner Jess were for the Kate Sharpley Library for so many years." [HL]

https://freedompress.org.uk/2026/10/03/barry-pateman-1951-2026/

(Barry at the 2011 San Francisco Anarchist Bookfair)

First, my heart goes out to Barry's family, friends and comrades because this is such an immense loss.

I knew Barry over a decade when he was living in the San Francisco Bay Area and working on the Emma Goldman Papers at UC Berkeley (in the aughts). He was generous to a fault, both with his time and with material resources. While we were never close, we did meet for coffee occasionally, where I definitely sought him out as a mentor. And despite never explicitly telling me what to do, his advice was always spot-on. But more importantly, he lived by his principles; I've striven to emulate how he truly embodied his values in his approach to life.

My most cherished memories were from the (now defunct) San Francisco Anarchist Bookfair, where our respective groups always had tables (his Kate Sharpley Library, mine the Insane Dialectical Posse). I'd often see him early in the morning, before the event was open to the public, as he was sorting his offerings -- mostly pamphlets, with a few books. Invariably, each year he'd come over to our table with his warm greeting and firm handshake -- with those huge hands of his -- and then offer me and my comrades stacks of pamphlets, saying "they're more appropriate for you 'ultra-lefts'''. And they'd be old issues of various classics, like BM Blob texts of the Wise Brothers -- such as France Goes Off the Rails, Like a Summer with with a Thousand July's, or the one on the 1986 Spanish Dock Strike -- among other accounts of autonomous working class militancy. We'd always go through the conventional bourgeois ritual of asking "how much?", to which Barry would reply with his Yorkshire accent, "nothing, for you comrades."

He'd also invite us to visit the Kate Sharpley Library after he'd moved it to the barn at his home in rural Grass Valley in the Sierra foothills of Northern California. Sadly, we never took him up on his kind offer.

I'd occasionally run into Barry around town or on the regional BART train, and I'd sit down and catch up a little with him. In 2004, I remember sharing accounts of our involvement with what we called a "Flying Picket" to support hotel workers during the 53-day strike and lockout of San Francisco's HERE Local 2 (involving 4,300 workers at 14 major hotels). I distinctly remember his getting excited and saying, "I've been part of plenty of flying pickets meself, especially during the miners' strike," and unconditionally praising our actions.

That's what always created an instant affinity between Barry and myself, despite whatever hair-splitting differences between our politics. We both are uncompromising advocates of an antiauthoritarian approach to class struggle.

Barry Pateman — ¡Presente!

Thanks for your memories and best wishes, Hieronymous!