Dear Reimar Heider,
Thank you for your e-letter of April 6. You should know that I am quite an elderly man
(83 years) who is virtually incapable of walking because of osteoarthritis and heart
problems. I tell you this to explain why I am often delayed in responding to letters,
especially e-mail. I should also caution you that people who profess to speak in my
behalf do not necessarily speak for me—except for my companion, Janet Biehl, whose email address I share and with whom I live. (Please note her e-mail address.)
Like most Americans, alas, I know very little about the PPK and Abdullah Ocalan,
although I do recall news of his arrest several years ago. Thanks to our parochial press,
Americans are barely informed about Kurdish affairs. (Even Iraqi Kurds are much
neglected by our war correspondents.) I learned only a few days ago that Mr. Ocalan has
been under a death sentence for five years and is presently in solitary confinement. I
sincerely hope he is coping with his situation.
We are, however, knowledgeable about the German language, so you need not be
troubled about whether we will understand the literature you sent us in that language.
Send me what you like, although I will be obliged to respond in English. The problem I
face in writing quickly is solely a matter of my failing health and medical problems.
You should also know that although I founded the Institute for Social Ecology, together
with Dan Chodorkoff, some thirty years ago in Vermont, the school has since become
highly diversified and does not consistently reflect my views. Part of its staff has drifted
toward anarchistic views that I regard as juvenile and uniformed, with which I have no
sympathy. I say this to ask you to write directly to me at Janet’s e-mail address, where I
can at least enjoy a private correspondence free of interference from these “libertarian”
children.
For myself, I have been active in the American Left for some seventy years as a labor
organizer and a teacher. In short, I am a walking history of the twentieth century in my
own way and have always tried to look beyond ideas that people freeze into dogmas.
THE ECOLOGY OF FREEDOM and TOWARDS AN ECOLOGICAL SOCEITY both
date back to the 1980s. Moreover, you should know that THE ECOLOGY OF
FREEDOM was only partially translated into German. (I believe, however, that the
Turkish translation is complete.) I have also written books and articles on my concept of
libertarian municipalism, confederalism, the meaning of politics as distinguished from
parliamentarism, and the lessons to be learned from the revolutionary tradition. (I have
recently completed a four-volume book on this last topic, the third volume of which is to
be published next month by Continuum Publishers in London.) These writings—
especially THE RISE OF URBANIZATION AND THE DECLINE OF CITIZENSHIP,
which has been translated into both German and Turkish--may be of interest to you and
Mr. Ocalan. These more recent writings have provoked considerable interest in Latin
America, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, and Australia.

 Much remains to be explored, which my health and age prohibit me from doing. If you
care to write to me further, I ask you to please be patient with an old radical. I wish to
express my deep concern for Mr. Ocalan.
Cordially,
Murray Bookchin
131 Main Street, apt. 301
Burlington, VT 05401 USA
tel.: (802) 863-4545
jbiehl@together.net