T-Bone Slim, born on this day in 1880, was an IWW member, working class songwriter, and author. Due to his popular, labor themed tunes, Slim was dubbed the "laureate of the logging camps".
Born Matti Valentin Huhta to Finnish immigrant parents in Ashtabula, Ohio, Slim became an itinerant worker after leaving his wife and family in 1912. It isn't known when Slim became a Wobbly, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), but he first appeared in the IWW's press in the 1920 edition of the IWW Songbook.
Slim became one of the IWW's most famous writers during the 1920s and 30s, and many people would buy the "Industrial Worker" just to read his articles - one ad from the paper read "there's a lot more in Industrial Solidarity and Industrial Worker than T-Bone Slim's columns".
Slim did not presume his working-class readership to be unintelligent people, making use of complex wordplay and experimental writing techniques, playing with ambiguity, satire and surrealism.
Slim was also well-known for his songs, such as the "Lumberjack's Prayer", a parody of the Lord's Prayer about the poor quality of food available for the working class, and "The Popular Wobbly", which experienced a revival among civil rights activists during the 1960s.
In spite of his renown in radical circles during his lifetime, many details of Slim's life remain unclear. During the mid-1930s, he settled in New York City, where he worked as a barge captain on the docks.
In May 1942, Slim's body was found in the East River. His cause of death remains unknown and has been subject to speculation. Following his death, Slim largely faded into obscurity, especially compared to more famous IWW-associated writers such as Joe Hill.
Slim's songs have been preserved, however, re-published in editions of the Little Red Songbook and covered by musicians such as Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, and his own great-grandnephew, John Westmoreland.
Until recently, there was thought to be no surviving photographs of Slim, however, in 2019 two photos were discovered and published by Working Class History in a Newberry Library collection.
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My dad invited me over to have dinner on friday with him and my brother out of the blue. He's a good dude but not the type to do this unless there's something to announce...
current speculation:
leaning towards one of 3 and 4 atm. if he got a job and wanted to "announce" it he'd tell my sister at the same time, likewise with an engagement. But I've talked with both my dad and brother (who lives with my dad atm) about renting my dad's condo if i could get together the money, so it would make sense for that discussion to happen between just the three of us. will update, even if nothing happens cause that'd be pretty funny
"RION we love you and support you but you have been spending too much time on that communist website. When you go on that communist website it makes us feel sad. All you ever want to talk about is how capitalists have ruined the world. You talk about Marx like he is the second coming of christ and that makes us feel worried. We are afraid that if you don't stop using that Communist website you might actually overthrow the capitalist system and engage in a Maoist uprising against the landlords. We love you and care about you but we don't want you to overthrow the bourgeoise and take away our treats."
Maybe he just wants to see y'all (but not your sister)
Possibly! He's never really reached out to me in this fashion just for the sake of spending time together though