Richard Michael Fox (1891–December 1969), better known as R. M. Fox, was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

of the Irish

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

. Fox was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1891, the second of four sons to a schoolteacher mother and engineering workman father. His parents were active in the Co-operative Movement, and as a young man Fox joined the

Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and oppos ...

and the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Fox denounced it as an

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

war in which workers had no interest. His refusal to be conscripted led to his being

tried In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

and imprisoned several times throughout the war. He was abruptly released in April 1919; later that year he authored his first book, ''Factory Echoes'', and enrolled at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 30 December 1969 While at Ruskin, Fox became the editor of ''New Oxford'' and gained a reputation as a labour journalist. He was invited to

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 1921 to observe the results of the recent

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, and in 1922 he visited

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and established contacts with leading leftist figures there. Following his graduation from Ruskin, Fox married children's author

Patricia Lynch Patricia Lynch (4 June 1894– 1 September 1972) was an Irish children's writer and a journalist. She was the author of some 48 novels and 200 short stories. She is best known for blending Irish rural life and fantasy fiction as in ''The Turf-Cu ...

and they spent time in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, and

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before eventually settling in Dublin. Fox's articles appeared in the ''

Irish Statesman The ''Irish Statesman'' was a weekly journal promoting the views of the Irish Dominion League. It ran from 27 June 1919 to June 1930, edited by Warre B. Wells, assisted by James Winder Good, and with contributions from W. B. Yeats, George Bern ...

'' and in the late 1920s he began publishing his books through

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and now ...

. His autobiography, ''Smoky Crusade'', was published in 1937. During "The Emergency", the Irish Directorate of Military Intelligence was concerned about ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' having Fox,

Maire Comerford Máire Aoife Comerford (2 June 1893 - 15 December 1982) was an Irish republican from County Wexford who witnessed central events in 1916-23 and remained a committed supporter of Cumann na mBan until her death. Early career to 1916 Comerfor ...

, Brian O'Neill, Geoffrey Coulter, and Tom Mullins on its staff.

Fearghal McGarry Fearghal McGarry (born 16 November 1971) is an Irish historian specializing in the history of Ireland in the 20th century, currently Professor of Modern Irish History at Queen's University, Belfast. McGarry is the author of books about Ireland in ...

, "Irish newspapers and the Spanish Civil War" in ''Irish Historical Studies'', Vol. 33, Issue 129, May 2002, pp. 68-90, footnote 23 Fox also commented and published on the state of Irish literature and theatre. Reviewing

Teresa Deevy Teresa Deevy (21 January 1894 – 19 January 1963) was an Irish dramatist and writer, who was deaf from the age of 19. Best known for her works for theatre, she was also a short story writer, and writer for radio. Early life Teresa Deevy w ...

in 1948 he comments that while her plays were remarkable they were not frequently staged. "I ask myself why the work of a modern Irish dramatist of such creative power is not seen more often on the Irish stage." An account of Fox’s trip to

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was published as ''China Diary'' in 1959. Fox died in December 1969, three years before his wife. They are both buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Selected bibliography

*''Factory Echoes'', 1919. *''Rebel Irishwomen'', 1935. *''Smoky Crusade'', 1937. *''Green Banners: The story of the Irish struggle'', 1938. *''The History of the Irish Citizen Army'', 1943. *
James Connolly: The Forerunner
', 1943 *''Years of Freedom: the story of Ireland 1921–48'', 1948. *''Jim Larkin: The Rise of the Underman'', 1957. *''Louie Bennett: Her Life and Times'', 1958. *''China Diary'', 1959.

References

*Anne Brady,

Brian Cleeve Brian Brendon Talbot Cleeve (22 November 1921 – 11 March 2003) was a writer, whose published works include twenty-one novels and over a hundred short stories. He was also an award-winning broadcaster on RTÉ television. Son of an Irish fathe ...

. ''Biographical Dictionary of Irish Writers''. Lilliput (1985). *''Princess Grace Irish Library'' *Patricia Lynch. ''A Story-Teller's Childhood'', 1947. *Review in

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

, 1948

External links

* R.M.Fox a
The Teresa Deevy ArchiveHistoryeye , Patricia Lynch: a storyteller's childhood revisited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Richard Michael 1891 births 1969 deaths Socialist Party of Great Britain members English expatriates in Ireland British male journalists Alumni of Ruskin College Industrial Workers of the World members Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery Writers from Leeds 20th-century British historians World War I

See also

Selected bibliography

References

External links