Dreams and Nightmares

They hardly make 'em like Abe Osheroff any more. This 95-year-old survivor of the legendary Abe Lincoln Brigade - a formation of some 3,000 Americans who went over to Spain to join the fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War in the Thirties - is surely the only firsthand witness to the struggle still active on the speaking circuit. Additionally, this social activist has participated in many of the primary political movements of the 20th century: He was a labor organizer during the Thirties, a Freedom Rider in Mississippi in 1964, and an organizer against the contras in Nicaragua during the Eighties. A carpenter by trade, Osheroff has also made a few films. In "Dreams and Nightmares," Osheroff traveled to Spain in 1974 to search for evidence of his youthful passion. Originally, he went to Spain with the Lincoln Brigade because he saw that the war against fascism in Europe had already begun and needed to be stopped in its tracks; he returned because his commitment to the struggle has never waned. Osheroff will be showing his film and speaking in a presentation called "From the Spanish Civil War to September 11: Perspectives on War and Peace in the 21st Century." It's a mouthful to say, but "perspectives" are something Osheroff possesses in abundance. And in these crazy times, perspective is something we all could use a little more of.