This morning’s Newspapers announce the death of Nobel Winner and Playwright Harold Pinter. Rest in Peace. I toddled up to the corner shop to get fags and saw that one of the the UK papers was carrying a huge black and white image of the author. He was a frequent visitor to Dublin, indeed, we have been lucky enough to have some excellent Pinter Seasons in
the Gate Theatre; and that is where we saw him breezing through.
His plays were gems of created tension and violence include The Homecoming, The Room, the most formative one for me was (and is) The Dumb Waiter, but it was always about more that the plays or his life. There was also his opposition to George Bush,his abrasiveness and his intellectual integrity. That will be missed.
The London Independent which is online carries the appreciation and Obits for those interested in the Great Man.I was unimpressed by Betrayal, but everyone has their own Pinter resonance. The images in the Papers belie his commitment to fighting the regime that has brought intolerable suffering to our world, he spoke out against the Gulf War again and Again. He used his profile and relationship with the Press to oppose this Disgraceful subversion of International Arbitration bodies , including the UN. Along with Tony Harrison the poet, he became a strong and enduring voice against the media silence on this great suffering and for that we must be thankful.
“The Crimes of the US throughout the world have been systematic, constant, clinical, remorseless and fully documented but no-body talks about them”.
Would that there were more with his courage and bravery in the face of a relentless and idiotic media, that both ignores and spins this period that we have lived and raised our children through : When war and abuse became fodder for mass consumption, Snuff.
RIP Harold Pinter: 1930-2008.
Chris Murray 