A global impact

John gave so much and still had more to give. A giant has fallen. I’ve known him for close to 50 years, since he was a lecturer at Portsmouth University and I lived close by.

I was always impressed by the number of students he recruited and then developed as leading cadres, with at least two becoming members of the SWP’s Central Committee.

His ability to explain Marxism was unsurpassed. His many books left a big impression on me, especially Marxism and the Party, which I keep returning to and have lent to many comrades.

John was an independent thinker and often found himself in the minority, but he never regarded differences as heresies, rather as a way of reaching better conclusions and maintaining unity of purpose, where we all learned more about politics and leadership.

His impact was global, not limited to Britain and Ireland. We recall his brilliant keynote lecture at the 1917 centenary in Johannesburg. The photograph shows him about to give that address. The chair is uMkhonto we Sizwe freedom fighter and former government minister Ronnie Kasrils.

His death will be a great loss to the Global Ecosocialist Network, which he founded and energised. He was a major theorist, but his writings were always rooted in practice and innovating new strategy, as with his role in People Before Profit in Ireland.

Goodbye my friend. Condolences to Mary, his partner, and to his family and loving comrades. Long live the memory of Comrade John Molyneux, long live!