Fw: Miguel Melbin - veteran, pacifist, age 91

[hh higgins]

Dear Members, Friends, Affinity Groups & Alliances;

Miguel Melbin attended one of our meetings. He is a very engaging and interesting person. Please consider contacting Miguel and perhaps spending some time with him in walks, conversation, and coffee. hh

PS> We have older VFP Spokane members who are open to a visit. Buell Hollister and Art Hathaway are witty and can provide expert recollection of their experiences and work for Peace. hh

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Arroyoribera <arroyo...@gmail.com>

To:

Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 at 09:39:40 PM PDT

Subject: Miguel Melbin - veteran, pacifist, age 91

David Brookbank here. Some of you will recall a Veterans for Peace meeting sometime ago at which I introduced you to Miguel Melbin. Miguel is 91 years old and living alone on the near north side of Spokane, off Northwest Boulevard.

You may recall from my introduction of Miguel at last year’s meeting that he grew up in Berkeley, California, where he was a student at the University of California-Berkeley. Towards the end of his freshman year at UC Berkeley, he was called in by a dean and told that, while he was doing well academically, his failure to participate in mandatory ROTC was going to result in him not completing that year’s credits. Miguel on principle left the school and went to Arizona where he picked cotton with Mexican migrants, and then on to Mexico itself where he played with the mariachi group of Miguel Aceves Mejia. 

As fate would have it, Miguel drafted into the US Marines and trained in California to go to the Korean War. He was among those fortunate enough to have been en route (actually in Japan) at the time that the armistice was declared. He did subsequently return to UC Berkeley where he studied three languages (Spanish, French and German) and majored in meteorology. There too he, along with others, successfully organized and achieved the end mandatory ROTC at UC Berkeley. 

Miguel has spent his life close to Mexicanos and the Spanish language. In the early 60s he taught Spanish at Western Washington State College, living in his VW van on campus. He later was very involved in migrant education in California, both when it was in favor and later under Governor Ronald Reagan’s war on everything civilized and humane. In about 1982, he legally changed his first name from Ronan’s to Miguel, such was his disdain for the actor president. Years later he lived in Moscow, Idaho and worked for WSU in southeast Washington, educating migrant families about the educational opportunities for their kids and recruiting migrant students.  

Miguel is a life-long member of the Sierra Club. He remembers as a boy traveling to Yosemite on a two lane road when the place was still near pristine. He became a landed immigrant in Canada where he did small-scale logging and watched the fateful decisions that led to large-scale logging and the building of dams on the Columbia River. Over years in California, he also was witness to many of equally fateful decisions that made the automobile king and development religion. Later doing migrant education work in 

Miguel came to Spokane in about 2017. We ran into one another one winter morning at Atticus when I heard a barista call him “Miguel” and then heard him say, “Gracias”. He and I began walking together on Saturday mornings perhaps four years ago, getting coffee afterwards, and talking (in Spanish and English) about life and the world.

Our conversations have continued year-round for these nearly five years, including the COVID years. Perhaps a year and a half ago Miguel seemed to slow down considerably. His mind remains very sharp but he has weakened and he experiences isolation. He has even begun to neglect his routine of PBS News Hour, Sunday morning talk shows and other means of informing himself, which also included his subscription to The Economist and the Spokesman-Review.

He has always been politically aware and involved. He has written many letters to the editor wherever he has lived (Google: Spokesman Review Mike Melibin). He is no fan of Trump nor CMR. But he seriously questions the militarism of the Democrats. He worked several years in Moscow, Idaho to take down the dams on the Snake River. He has met with City Councilpersons about one of the pet peeves — parking lots (he can’t stand them). And he has a Lisa Brown sign on his door from his last campaign, if anyone doubts his politics.

One of Miguel’s frustrations is the difficulties he is having with the VA Hospital. He recently receive a diagnosis that could be quite serious but the appointment with his primary doctor which was schedule two months ago is still a couple weeks away. 

Miguel has given me permission to share his phone and address with a few people who may have the desire and time to visit him. He is very informal and flexible but would no doubt appreciate a call in advance. He is still driving his Toyota Prius. While he does handle most of his own shopping, cooking is an inconvenient necessity which he may be neglecting. His spirit has been noticeably depressed recently, something he himself expressed concern about. Though he has not been able to walk much for the last year and a half, he greatly enjoys a good cup of coffee with some pastry (we originally met at Atticus for a bit, then moved to the upstairs at My Fresh Basket, then to the Rocket at 14th and Adams, and finally most recently to the Bistro at Huckleberry’s. He is not adverse to going out for breakfast either. Don’t worry he pays his own way. And he enjoys seeing parts of Spokane he doesn’t know. 

Here is his info:

Miguel Melbin

2028 W York

Spokane, Wa

(509) 312-9783

If you would want to have someone with you the first time you visit him, let me know and I can accompany you. 

Thank you for hearing me out. Miguel would enjoy and benefit from your visit and concern. 

En solidaridad,

David Brookbank

arroyo...@gmail.com

509-879-7169

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