BOOK REVIEW ?JOE HILL¹ By Gibbs M. Smith, Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City 1984, Originally Published 1969 HD8073 H55563 1984 ?Joe Hill¹ was published in 1969 to mark the 54th anniversary of the execution by firing squad in Utah in 1915 of Joe Hill I.W.W. songwriter and activist. Joe Hill (Hillstrom) a Norwegian immigrant entered the United States in 1902 and joined the I.W.W. in 1910. While working in Utah in 1913 he was arrested, tried and executed in 1915 for the murder of a Salt Lake City grocer in what was little more than a show trial. Tens of thousands of people, both in the United States and overseas including the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, appealed to the Utah authorities for clemency with no success. Hill¹s execution was a direct consequence of the anti I.W.W. hysteria in Utah. He was convicted primarily on inconclusive circumstantial evidence. Interestingly two members of the I.W.W. in Golburn in New South Wales, Australia were executed in 1917 for the murder of a policeman as a consequence of the anti I.W.W. hysteria that was whipped up in Australia because the I.W.W. spearheaded the struggle against conscript in Australia. While their deaths were virtually ignored, the execution of Joe Hill in Utah made Hill into a working class legend. The legend of Joe Hill has survived as a consequence of the legacy of his songs, songs that in some cases have been incorporated into popular working class culture. Although other songwriters had written songs for the I.W.W., Joe Hill¹s songs encapsulated the mood of the times. His first song ¹The Preacher and the Slave¹ was a parody of the Salvation Army Hymn ?In the Sweet Bye and Bye¹. Hill¹s fading memory has been kept alive by the song ?I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night¹, a song set to music by Earl Robinson from a poem written in 1925 by Alfred Hayes. Paul Roberson¹s rendition of ?I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night¹ assured Hill of immortality. Gibbs M. Smith¹s ?Joe Hill¹ is a well researched 280 page analysis of the man and the legend. The book has over 70 pages of references and notes for any reader who is interested in doing further research on Joe Hill (Hillstrom). Gibbs M. Smith¹s book on Joe Hill could be available from the remainder bin of one or two radical bookshops. The difference between Gibbs¹ book on Joe Hill and other books on Hill is Joyce Kornbluh¹s introduction to Gibbs¹ book. In her introduction Kornbluh gives an excellent summary of the history of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.). http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16707 DENVER A federal appeals court this week revived a lawsuit brought by animal activists who claimed they were protected by the First Amendment when handing out pro-vegetarian leaflets near a Utah school. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, appealed a ruling by a federal judge that animal-rights activists cannot picket on a sidewalk next to a school because it interferes with school activities. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 5 reversed a lower court's decision granting summary judgment to school officials. Maybe if they were preaching creationism they'd be getting fucking PAID.