My involvement in solidarity work began when I was working at the Canadian Women's Educational Press from 1972 and 1977. It was during the joint production of Cuban Women Now and Population Target: The Political Economy of Population Control in Latin America that I first became involved with LAWG.

 

The Cuban Women Now book was the Women's Press's first book dealing with women outside of Canada. Until then, its focus had been on the women's movement domestically and Canada’s national struggle, publishing titles such as Women Unite, an anthology of the Canadian women’s movement, and Women at Work. The Press’s editorial line was in keeping with much of the Canadian nationalist perspective at that time, and held the position that the Canadian women’s movement had evolved out of a historical context distinct and very different from that of the U.S. When Margaret Randall's manuscript came before the collective, it raised ideological questions about if the Press should publish it, and the political implications of doing so.

 

I was not as politically sophisticated as many of the women on the Press who had come out of long political involvements. And I suppose as a result, I was not as ideologically constrained as some at the Press when it came time to editorial decisions which we made collectively. The testimonies of the Cuban women whom Margaret had interviewed moved me, their strength, their heroism, and in a different way, Bonnie Mass’ ground-breaking research about Latin American women being used as guinea pigs in birth control experiments, I also found compelling. I felt that our solidarity as Canadian women with these struggling Latin American women was politically important.

 

Margaret Randall's Cuban Women Now had come our way through her contacts, I believe, in BC, Red Star Books. Cuban Women Now (1974) was formally co-published (1974) by the Women’s Press and Dumont Press Graphix. Interestingly LAWG’s name is not on the book as a joint publisher. As I recall, it was so LAWG could keep a low profile, and not to create problems by having it identified by with association with Cuba. It was still at a time when the RCMP gave close scrutiny to anyone who had anything to do with Cuba. The Bonnie Mass’ book was co-published by the Women’s Press and LAWG, in 1976.

 

When the Women’s Press agreed to co-publish these two books, along with LAWG and Dumont Press Graphics, with whom the Press had a working relationship, I became keenly involved in both editing and the production, and as a result came to know LAWG people, principally the women, who were involved in getting the manuscripts published. To produce the books we had to drive to Kitchener at night. At the time the Women's Press was doing all its layout using Dumont Press’ first-generation, ancient typesetting machines. We input copy using an ancient keyboard that spit out long streams of ticker-tape. So proficient were we that we developed the ability to read the little dots to identify spelling mistakes. This tape was then fed-into a 5 foot machine which printed out long roles of photographic paper in a canister, when was then developed like film. When there were errors, we had to sit down at the keyboard again to do 2- line corrections which we lay on top of the paper copy and then waxed over the error. I think we 2 all developed a great eye at the time for straight margins and a complete respect for typefaces and open space on a page!!

 

The visits to Dumont Press Graphics were always a "trip". We had to do most of our work during the "graveyard shift". Dumont's main work was producing university papers such as the Chevron, which they did during the day. But they were very willing, for no cost, to let us use their facilities at night, and instructed us how to do layout. The skills we learned at the time were invaluable. Mind you, the hours we worked were horrendous! We would drive out to Kitchener at 11 or 12 at night, work and then return to Toronto at 6 or 7 in the morning.

 

I became a member of the LAWG collective in 1977 or 78 and worked on staff from 1980 to 1983. During that time I was involved in all the various collective meetings and activities, but focused increasingly on Central American and labour work.

 

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