Harry Leslie Smith

British writer and political commentator (1923-2018)

Harry Leslie Smith (25 February 1923 – 28 November 2018)[6][7][8] was a British writer and political commentator. He served in the RAF during the Second World War, later moving to Canada.

Harry Leslie Smith
Born(1923-02-25)25 February 1923
Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died28 November 2018(2018-11-28) (aged 95)
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
OccupationAuthor, activist
CitizenshipBritish[1][2][3][4]
Notable worksHarry's Last Stand: How the World My Generation Built is Falling Down, and What We Can Do to Save it
Allegiance UK
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1941–1948[5]

Biography

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After retiring, Smith began writing his memoirs and about the social history of Great Britain, during his youth and in the 21st century. He has written five books about Britain during the Great Depression, the Second World War, and postwar austerity.[9]

Smith writes for The Guardian newspaper, The New Statesman, The Daily Mirror, International Business Times and the Morning Star, and has made a number of public appearances in the UK (including the 2014 Labour Party conference and during the 2015 General Election and the 2016 EU Referendum) and Canada (in his 2015 Stand up For Progress National Tour).

On 20 November 2018 Smith was hospitalized in critical condition after suffering from pneumonia after having a fall at his home.[10] He died a week later on 28 November in Belleville, Ontario at the age of 95.[11]

References

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  1. Smith, Alivia (13 March 2015). "Harry Leslie Smith who is a British writer and political commentator speaks to the students in Manchester". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  2. "Harry Leslie Smith - 'Don't let the mean streets of my past be our future'". Radio NZ. 25 March 2017.
  3. "Writers". www.newstatesman.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  4. "Harry Leslie Smith - Don't Let My Past Be Your Future - Little, Brown Book Group". littlebrown.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  5. Smith, Harry Leslie (31 October 2014). ""Hunger, filth, fear and death": remembering life before the NHS". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  6. Smith, Harry Leslie (24 February 2017). "Don't dread old age. I'm 94, and I won't spend my last years in fear of the Tories". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  7. Davies, Caroline (28 November 2018). "Harry Leslie Smith, vocal critic of austerity, dies aged 95". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  8. Harry Leslie Smith (25 February 2015). "Tweet". @Harryslaststand (confirmed). Twitter. Retrieved 25 February 2015. On Feb 25,1923, I was born in a gas lit hard scrabble Barnsley where life was tough & short 92 years later I'm on #Twitter Tempus fugit....
  9. "Harry Leslie Smith: profile". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  10. Harry Leslie Smith in Hospital in Canada
  11. "Harry Leslie Smith dead: 'World's oldest rebel' dies aged 95 after long fight for the poor". 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.

Other websites

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