She Never Was Afraid
The Biography of Annie Buller, by Louise Watson

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Birthday celebrations

In December of 1955 Annie had reached the age of 60 years. Greetings came to her from all over the country. The Tribune, in recognition of her having been its business manager, carried a beautiful tribute written by John Weir under the caption, "From Glace Bay to Nanaimo she's known and loved". He traced her life and work over the years he had known her since his youthful days in the YCL. In the opening paragraph he wrote, ". .. Our Annie — and when you say that among militant workers anywhere from Glace Bay to Nanaimo you don't have to explain who you mean . ." and further, ". . While the fires of a youthful ardor usually subside to a warm and constant glow with the years, with her the flames of enthusiasm keep leaping to the stars as they always did."

An element of sadness crept into her heart on this her 60th birthday. Becky was not here to share it with her. The threesome had the first break when in 1953 Becky's life had come to a close after an illness intermittent over a few years. While she was in the hospital Annie had gone daily to sit with her and do what she could to alleviate the suffering and bring love and comfort to her lifelong friend and comrade.

When Annie's 70th birthday came along in 1965, the Party planned a big celebration. A banquet was prepared and invitations sent out. Once again John Weir was asked to pay tribute to her years in the movement. In his opening remarks he said ". . . High on the roll of our Canadian heroes stands the name of Annie Buller." He spoke of her work in the anti-conscription campaign in Quebec in 1918 — the help she gave to the Estevan miners in 1931 with subsequent arrest and imprisonment — her work on the Press. "... Annie's weapon is the word — the word spoken from the public platform, the word of the workers' press, the word of progressive books." He closed his address with these words: “…Seventy years — more than 50 of them in the front ranks of the Canadian working class . . . Annie Buller-Guralnick is like Danko in the story by Gorky, who tore his flaming heart out of his breast and held it aloft as a torch to lead his people out of the dark forest."

Some women comrades had put together a poem for the occasion, . . . "Who's Who Among Women", which was read with humour, as well as with a great deal of sincerity. Here it is:

WHO'S WHO AMONG WOMEN

In this decade we live in — the Sixties —
Each year many surveys are made.
They keep analyzing the times that we live in
And the people who make the grade.

In assessing the women, they question .. .
Can she be both clever and chic?
Some have the deep-going, far reaching thesis
The best seller — "Feminine Mystique"

Aside from the polls and enquiries,
Into the part that women can play,
There are women who are hitting the headlines
In things that they do and they say.

One such from the Isle of Formosa
Returned to her Alma Mater and said:
That an A-bomb should be dropped on Viet Nam
To stop Asia from going "Red".

So she called for the use of the A-Bomb,
Not the H-bomb — Mind you, that's bad!
But a low-yield like the one on Hiroshima
Where only 150,000 dropped dead.

Drop them on industrial centres,
Where nothing but people live.
For the Pentagon's Woman of the Year
Madame Chiang the award will receive.

Then there are women of varying natures —
Christine Keeler you remember no doubt.
She lived and she loved indiscreetly,
Now she's married and her past is blacked out.

Of course women like Elizabeth Taylor —
These sirens have been and will be, From
Cleopatra down through the ages
They've left their trade mark on history.

They've attracted their men and have held them
Through History's greatest love scenes,
From the time that Eve captured Adam
Women, men say, their downfall have been.

But there are women alive in this decade
All of mankind will pay homage to.
One of them, Valentina Tereshkova,
The first woman that in orbit flew.

There are women like La Pasionaria,
As "the Flower of Spain" she is known.
Dolores Ibarruri, who has just turned seventy
Leaves her mark on the soil of her home.

There are others, like Madame Eugenie Cotton
Of France, and everywhere they have renown.
For the peace of the world she's devoting her life.
Over eighty, she still carries on.

Among women like these there is Annie,
The one whom we honour tonight.
Though she has reached the milestone of seventy
She's still active in every cause just and right.

Among the miners in Nova Scotia,
In Drumheller and Estevan,
Annie Buller was with them in battles
To organize and for their struggles to plan.

Among Needle Trades workers and farmers,
With the unemployed, and in Auto and Steel,
Annie's impact on organization
The people of our country still feel.

There were in the past other women
Whom we remember and honour to this day—
Mother Bloor, Elizabeth Flynn,
And here in Canada, Beckie Buhay.

They're all known to and associates of Annie.
Their dedication will always be prized,
For they are the stuff — "The Salt of the Earth"
"The Rebel Girl" whom Joe Hill immortalized.

So in assessing "Who's Who" among women,
Annie Buller will not be missed.
For as a leader and battler for progress and peace
She'll be 'mongst the top of the list.

When Annie responded with her thanks, she said, "The affair tonight is a tribute not only to me, not just to one person, but to the working people of Canada, and the Party of the working class whose heroic struggles and many sacrifices inspired me to make my contribution, a modest contribution to the advance of the labour movement and to the well-being of Canada as a whole."

She traced the path she had followed from the tobacco factory, through the anti-conscription campaign, the Rand School, Montreal Labour College, to the founding of the Party in 1922. From there she had never looked back, but had gone steadily forward, travelling to mining camps, farm communities, and big cities, organizing branches of the Party, helping trade union organization among workers in almost every province of Canada and of many national origins.

She made special mention of the drive in 1929-30 to organize the dressmakers, and paid tribute to Chana Novinsky, Rae Watson, Gertie Blugerman, and Max Shur.

She remembered the 1,200 young men of Canada who formed the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion and went to fight for democracy in that far-off land of Spain, and of the hundreds who gave their lives in that fight to aid Spanish workers.

She reminisced about the many bitter struggles she had been through and the comrades who had shared in them with her, and expressed joy at seeing many of them there. She missed the presence of Becky and Bella — those two lifelong comrades whom she had known and loved since their youth. (Bella had died in 1961.)

She concluded by stressing the need for the utmost unity of the working class to achieve peace in the world, and strengthen the advance to socialism.

continued

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