In a society which has embraced controversial figures to the degree where Che Guevara is featured on a lunch box, I am deeply confused why Sam Melville has been forgotten. Maybe you have to kill a few people to be remembered as an idealist. Melville has a much more peaceful approach to revolution. Send messages. Huge messages. He attacked those that he felt needed to be stopped. While most of us will sit, watch the news, and curse corporations and government officials, Sam Melville actually DID something. He put those that committed ill deeds against the public on notice in a way I think we have all wished we could. Even in prison, Melville made a stand that I think very few of us would be able to. Maybe if he didn’t call building personnel to warn them of his bombings, or just had recognizable facial hair we would remember him better. Leaving only 19 injured will hardly leave a lasting legacy.
I really found this piece to be poignant of the times as I remember them. Wildly idealist. Wildly confusing. Sam was a hero, but like so many heroes he trod on clay feet: abandoning his wife and family, one future for another.
Sacrifices are made every day. Sam chose his political life over his wife and child. How is that any different then leaving them for another woman? Sam was a smart, determined, and passionate leader. He attacked the corporations that he wanted to attack and was able to do so without killing anyone. Ultimately he sacrificed his life for something he believed in. Sympathy for sure!
Why sympathy for Sam Melville? Because he fought back rather the bent over supine before stinking fascists! Because he was not weak and gutless but brave and principled.
Is this a joke? I have NO sympathy for this lousy bum. He bombed & injured people. Created a prison riot for nothing except to see his prison pals killed. He, a hero? Hope he is in hell burning form eternity if it exists which I doubt.
Murdered - The Web
July 16, 2010 at 1:53 pm
In a society which has embraced controversial figures to the degree where Che Guevara is featured on a lunch box, I am deeply confused why Sam Melville has been forgotten. Maybe you have to kill a few people to be remembered as an idealist. Melville has a much more peaceful approach to revolution. Send messages. Huge messages. He attacked those that he felt needed to be stopped. While most of us will sit, watch the news, and curse corporations and government officials, Sam Melville actually DID something. He put those that committed ill deeds against the public on notice in a way I think we have all wished we could. Even in prison, Melville made a stand that I think very few of us would be able to. Maybe if he didn’t call building personnel to warn them of his bombings, or just had recognizable facial hair we would remember him better. Leaving only 19 injured will hardly leave a lasting legacy.
July 22, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I really found this piece to be poignant of the times as I remember them. Wildly idealist. Wildly confusing. Sam was a hero, but like so many heroes he trod on clay feet: abandoning his wife and family, one future for another.
July 27, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Sacrifices are made every day. Sam chose his political life over his wife and child. How is that any different then leaving them for another woman? Sam was a smart, determined, and passionate leader. He attacked the corporations that he wanted to attack and was able to do so without killing anyone. Ultimately he sacrificed his life for something he believed in. Sympathy for sure!
August 23, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Sympathy for bringing attention to his idealistic dreams. And then dying during the Attica prison riots in 1971…
January 23, 2013 at 11:23 pm
Why sympathy for Sam Melville? Because he fought back rather the bent over supine before stinking fascists! Because he was not weak and gutless but brave and principled.
December 29, 2014 at 10:33 pm
Is this a joke? I have NO sympathy for this lousy bum. He bombed & injured people. Created a prison riot for nothing except to see his prison pals killed. He, a hero? Hope he is in hell burning form eternity if it exists which I doubt.
May 3, 2015 at 4:20 pm
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I appreciate how strongly you feel about the matter.