Maris Cakars ( Latvian: Māris Čakars) (1942-1992) is best known as having served as editor of WIN (Workshop in Nonviolence) Magazine, a bi-weekly journal of the nonviolent

anti-Vietnam War movement Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social mov ...

, from 1965 to 1976. During his leadership at WIN, authors such as

Grace Paley Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007) was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Prize and Na ...

, Barbara Deming,

Andrea Dworkin Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen solo ...

, Abbie Hoffman, and many others from the nonviolent Left appeared in its pages. It also published excerpts from secret files stolen by persons unknown from the FBI offices in Media, Pennsylvania. The files were described by the New York Times as "a virtually complete collection of political materials" from the FBI's regional offices, dealing with secret FBI surveillance of student, civil rights and anti-war groups. According to

Tad Richards James (Tad) Richards (born March 31, 1940) is an American writer and visual artist. He is also artistic director and former president of Opus 40, the sculpture park in Saugerties, New York. Richards was born in Washington, D.C. in 1940. In 1943 ...

:Obituary, The Woodstock Times, April 2, 1992, sourced a
a memorial site
on January 28, 2007.

As part of his work with Win, the
War Resisters League The War Resisters League (WRL) is the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States. History Founded in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I, it is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International. It continues ...
and the
Committee for Non-Violent Action The Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) was an American anti-war group, formed in 1957 to resist the US government's program of nuclear weapons testing. It was one of the first organizations to employ nonviolent direct action to protest aga ...
, Cakars helped organize demonstrations at
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...
and in New York, including a demonstration at a Manhattan military induction center where Dr.
Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies ...
was arrested. Cakars managed to get himself arrested by both superpowers in the '70s, and for the same reasons. He was arrested in Moscow by the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
for passing out anti-war leaflets in
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
. His social conscience led him beyond international movements and into the local community. At a time when America seemed to be divided into hostile camps between radical peaceniks and the establishment, Cakars joined the St. Remy Volunteer Department, and rose to the rank of lieutenant. At the time of his death, he was director of publications for the
New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
.

Cakars was born in Riga, Latvia, which he left with his parents in 1944 to escape Soviet occupation. The family arrived in America in 1949, and he was raised in Oceanside, Long Island, New York. He studied at

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He married Susan Kent, and together they had two children, a daughter, Andrea, and a son, Jānis.New York Times obituary, March 26, 1992 After he left WIN in 1976, he lived in Brooklyn. He edited ''Women's World'' and managed production for '' Seven Days'' magazine, and served as sports editor for the '' Guinness Book of World Records''. He died of internal hemorrhaging in 1992 at the age of 49.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cakars, Maris 1992 deaths American pacifists American tax resisters Latvian emigrants to the United States Latvian World War II refugees 1942 births War Resisters League activists

See also

Sources