It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Party member and longtime anti-war and social justice activist A.G. Smith passed away peacefully in the early morning of June 17 at Windsor Regional Hospital with his partner Susan by his side and accompanied by his Windsor comrades.

A.G. was a communist, an accomplished visual artist, author/illustrator of children’s books and skilled craftsman. Born in New Mexico, A.G. grew up in a working class family in North Carolina and upheld the best traditions of the U.S. working class and people.

He did his undergraduate studies at East Carolina University and graduate studies at Iowa University in the 1960s where he was active in the movement of the youth of that period against the Vietnam War.

A.G. came to Canada in the 1980s where he first taught at the University of Windsor in the School of Visual Arts. It was at the University of Windsor that he and Susan worked together with CPC(M-L) member the late Dr. Dale Woodyard and got to know the Party.

A.G. joined CPC(M-L) in the 1990s at the time of the Days of Action in Ontario against the anti-social offensive of the Mike Harris government. In joining the Party, A.G. always said he felt he had found what was missing from his experiences as a youth in the anti-war movement. He saw the necessity to contribute to building a revolutionary organization that could organizationally unite the working class and people so they could empower themselves to change the society and the existing conditions in their favour.

In the Party, A.G. upheld the best internationalist traditions of the U.S. and Canadian working class and people and never accepted the division of the people in any way, especially when it came to relations between nations and peoples, upholding the principle that we are One Humanity in One Struggle to Uphold the Rights of All.

A.G. and Susan worked to build the collective of artists in Windsor known as Artists for Social Justice so that their talents and their voice could take their place in all the movements of the people for social change. Their larger than life street art could always be seen above the crowds in the mass protest actions of the Ontario Days of Action and then in the anti-war and anti-globalization movements of the 1990s and 2000s.

A.G.’s line drawings were present in the pages of TML Weekly and daily publications which were distributed in the tens of thousands during the Days of Action to provide a converging point for those participating. His art was also published in Information Update, the newspaper of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 in Hamilton, during their 10 year fight against the use of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to dispossess them of defined pension benefits and attempts to weaken the union.

A.G. always stood shoulder to shoulder with the younger generation in the movements of the people sharing his many skills and insights, whether it be in making signs, banners and props for demonstrations, in sharing his experiences in the United States as a youth or his insights into the anti-colonial struggles of the peoples. A.G. and Susan’s home was a gathering place for the youth of the 1990s in Windsor for weekly discussions of political affairs, providing a vital space for discussion of matters of concern and what to do about them. His encouragement and support left an imprint on the younger generation with whom he worked.

A.G. was a candidate for the Marxist-Leninist Party (MLPC) in numerous federal elections, mainly in the riding of Parry Sound–Muskoka where for over three decades he and Susan have spent part of each year, and where they co-founded the Nobel Peace Project, an ongoing international mail art initiative. As a stalwart in the riding, A.G. gained the respect of electors and other candidates. He always appreciated the ways in which organizations and local media in the riding attempted to actually inform constituents during elections by ensuring that all candidates were given equal time to speak and share their perspectives. This, he felt, was something that should be the norm across the country for the electorate to be able to cast a fully informed vote. Through his campaigns he elaborated the Party’s program for Democratic Renewal and for an Anti-War Government in towns and villages across the riding and provided the electorate with a perspective about matters of concern.

A.G. loved history. His studies and research of history provided him with a profound appreciation for all peoples and cultures, their struggles and contributions to the modern world. It showed up in the more than 100 children’s books he authored and illustrated and in his hundreds of meticulously hand-crafted material culture creations.

Everyone who knew or worked alongside A.G. will remember his affable manner and his fidelity to communism, characterized by a determination to contribute in whatever ways he could. They will remember a modest man of profound conviction who used his artistic talent and social interaction to advance humanity’s striving for emancipation.

We send our deepest sympathies to his life partner Susan Gold/Smith, their son Anton and his partner Gioia, granddaughter Zumi, A.G’s sister and brother-in-law Margaret and Jim, whose late son Alex pre-deceased A.G., and to A.G.’s comrades in Windsor.

In the video below A.G. speaks about his exhibition of works from 1990 to 2019 at the Chimczuk Museum in Windsor “Material Culture: Things We Make to Live” as the exhibition is shown on screen.

Messages of sympathy and remembrance can be sent to the Party and A.G.’s family at: remembrances@cpcml.ca. Donations for humanitarian aid for Cuba in honour of A.G. can be sent “In Memory of A.G. Smith” to the Canadian Network on Cuba.