A most wonderful man, Norman Feltes died Friday in Toronto.  The following
column is from the Toronto Star, forwarded without comment.

Toronto Star, Thomas Walkom, June 20, 2000

At the riot his dad could not make

ON JUNE 15, as he lay dying in hospital, Norman Feltes -
former professor, former believer in non-violence and now an
unlikely class warrior - had a final word for his 40-year-old
son.

``Go,'' he said. Or maybe, ``Good.'' Nic Feltes wasn't entirely
sure. The cancer had made his father's voice pitifully weak.
Still, the meaning was clear. So Nic Feltes, who
acknowledges that he is an even more unlikely class warrior,
took his 68-year-old father's place at the event which would
later be dubbed the Queen's Park riot. He stood with his
father's comrades in the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
as the rocks flew and the police horses charged.

''I went to honour my father and to honour OCAP,'' Nic Feltes explained
over coffee yesterday.

Middle-class Toronto has had trouble understanding last Thursday's
confrontation. Many have blamed John Clarke, the militant organizer
behind OCAP, for the violence. A few have blamed the police.

Andrew Coyne, one of the National Post's more interesting writers,
has blamed The Star and specifically columnist Michele Landsberg for
suggesting that the poor have something to gripe about.

Much of the reason for this confusion is that most middle-class people
have no comprehension of poverty. To middle-class Toronto, the poor
are alien, probably dangerous, beings. They are very likely drug addicts,
and certainly criminal. They are the great other.

If the poor can't be bothered to get jobs in telemarketing or invest
wisely in high-tech stocks, that's their fault. If they want social
change, they should hold news conferences.

But if middle-class Toronto can't understand the poor, perhaps it
can understand one of its own. Norman Feltes was of the middle class.
An American by birth, he marched for civil rights and against the
Vietnam War. His hero was Martin Luther King, his credo non-violence.

In 1969, Feltes emigrated to Canada. A good, safe, liberal, middle-class
Torontonian, he joined responsible civic organizations agitating
against such things as the Spadina Expressway.

In the '70s, he and municipal politician John Sewell founded the
Toronto Citizen, an alternative newspaper advocating responsible
social change. At York University, Feltes taught English and wrote
three books of literary criticism.

In short, he was a solid, small-l liberal. That Norman Feltes
probably would have watched the Queen's Park riot on television
and tut-tutted. He wouldn't have applauded the police actions; but
neither would he have supported Clarke's tactics.

Like many liberals, he probably would have chided OCAP for diverting
public attention away from Mike Harris' role in the Walkerton water
tragedy.

But about three years ago, that Norman Feltes was transformed. As a
volunteer with street organizations, he got to know poor people, got
to understand the great other. And, like anyone trying to do something
about poverty, he kept running into the brick wall of the Harris
government.

Two years ago, Feltes decided that Clarke was right - that as long
as the Harris Tories were in power, the only way to effect change
was to butt heads. So he joined OCAP.

``I was trying to figure out why someone like my father would join
this extremist group,'' said Nic Feltes.

``He had spent his entire life trying to communicate with people. That
was how he thought you got things done.

``But he said he'd become convinced that there was no discussion
possible with this particular government. He said, `You just can't
talk to these people.' ''

Norman Feltes' new political life was not without cost. He and
architect Jack Diamond, one of his oldest friends, had a bitter
falling-out over OCAP. Last year, Feltes was arrested after an
anti-poverty protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Then, about two and a half weeks ago, he was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer.

Norman's friends rallied. Diamond, reconciled, visited him in
hospital. So did his OCAP friends. Clarke thanked him for being
a traitor to his own class. (``My father got a kick out of that,''
said Nic.)

Last Thursday, Nic Feltes went to the riot his father couldn't attend.
When he returned, Norman was unconscious. Early Friday morning,
he died.

Norman Feltes was buried yesterday. Diamond was one of his pallbearers.
So was Clarke.

As for Nic, he said he was horrified by what he saw at Queen's Park.
He also said he now understands why it happened.

end
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Norm's obituary in the Globe and Mail concluded with:

"If you wish, you may honour Norm by sending a donation to the Ontario
Coalition Against Poverty, 249 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario M5A 2R9."


Dennis Raphael