|
The New York Times, Thursday, March 26, 1992:
Maris Cakers Is
Dead; Magazine Editor, 49
Maris Cakars, an editor who was a leader in
the movement against the Vietnam War, died on Saturday at Methodist Hospital in
Brooklyn. He was 49 years old and lived in Brooklyn. He died of internal
hemorrhaging, his family said.
For 12 years he worked for Win, a small but
influential magazine that opposed the Vietnam War and expanded to other social
issues. It encouraged radical change but nonviolent tactics. He was the editor
for about six years. Among those associated with Win were Abbie Hoffman, A.J.
Muste and Hendrik Hertzberg.
Mr. Cakars helped organize demonstrations,
including one at the Pentagon and another at a military induction site in
Manhattan at which Dr. Benjamin Spock was arrested. The organizations he worked
with included the Committee for Non-Violent Action and the War Resisters
League.
Born in Riga, Latvia, he left with his parents
in 1944 to escape Soviet occupation. The family came to America in 1949, and Mr.
Cakars grew up in Oceanside, L.I.
He studied at Lafayette College and Columbia
University. After he left Win in 1976, his jobs included managing editor of
Women's World magazine, production manager at Seven Days magazine and sports
editor of the Guinness Book of World Records.
Surviving are his wife of nearly 25 years, the
former Susan Kent; a daughter, Andrea, of Brooklyn; a son, Janis, of Manhattan;
his mother, Vera, of Huntington, L.I., and an adopted brother, Egils Melbardis
of Mill Valley, Calif.
|
NY TIMES DEATH NOTICES
|
CAKARS
─
Maris. On March 21, 1992.
Director of Publications, FDNY. Member WRL Founder WIN Magazine. Loving
son of Vera, husband of Susan, father of Janis and Andrea. Service at
Mc-Caddin Funeral Home, 24 7th Ave, Brooklyn, 6pm, Tuesday. Contributions
in lieu of flowers suggested to WRL, FDNY Burn Center, or Latvian Freedom
Foundation. |
|
CAKARS
─ Maris. The
members, staff and officers of War Resisters League extend their
condolences to the family on the death of our beloved friend and comrade,
whose work for radical nonviolent change took him from the Chicago police
riot of 1968 to an arrest in GUM Dept. Store in Moscow. His talented
editorship of WIN magazine helped shape the 1960's. He will be remembered
for his key role in the movement to end the Vietnam War. He lived long
enough to see his beloved Latvia achieve Independence.
|
|
Kingston
Daily Freeman, Tuesday Morning,
March 31, 1992:
BROOKLYN - Maris
Cakars, 49, of Brooklyn, a former St Remy resident and the founding editor of
Win Magazine, died March 21 at the Methodist Hospital after a short
illness.
He lived in St. Remy
from 1970 to 1976, and was a lieutenant in the St. Remy Volunteer Fire
Department. He was director of publications for the New York City Fire
Department.
Born in Riga, Latvia,
he was a founding editor of Win Magazine, a national bi-weekly that covered
world and social issues from a pacifist perspective.
During his years in
St. Remy, the magazine's editorial offices were located there, During its St.
Remy years, Win made national headlines when it became the first magazine to
publish the contents of secret files stolen from the FBI offices in Media, Pa.
by unknown persons. The papers 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.
Locally, Mr. Cakars
made headlines when he arranged a Win-sponsored personal appearance in Kingston
by Jane Fonda and her then-husband Tom Hayden, who were on a national tour
speaking out against the war in Vietnam. Later, he would also make the news when
he was arrested by the KGB for passing out anti-war leaflets in
Moscow.
Survivors include his
mother, Vera Cakars; his wife, Susan; a son, Janis; a daughter, Andrea; and a
brother, Egils Melbardis.
Arrangements were by
McCaddin Funeral Home.
Woodstock Times, April 2, 1992:
Maris Cakars, former editor of Win
magazine, one of the earliest and strongest voices in opposition to the
Vietnam War in the '60s and '70s, died March 21, in Brooklyn, NY, after a short
illness. He was 50.
Cakars and his wife, Susan, residents of
Ulster County from 1970-76, put out Win from a converted barn on their
St. Remy property during those years--including, in a controversial issue,
secret files stolen by persons unknown from the FBI offices in Media,
Pennsylvania, 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. He also
brought Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden to Kingston during their national tour to
speak out against the war in Vietnam.
As part of his work with Win, the War
Resisters League and the Committee for NonViolent Action, Cakars helped organize
demonstrations at the Pentagon and in New York, including a demonstration at a
Manhattan military induction center where Dr. Benjamin Spock 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 for passing out anti-war
leaflets in Red Square,
Maris Cakars was born in Riga, Latvia, and
came to the United States with his parents in 1944 to escape the Soviet
occupation. A passionate supporter of Latvian independence. he expanded the
scope of that passion to embrace freedom of thought and action everywhere in the
world, including his adopted country. His hatred of the armed oppression in his
own country extended to a general opposition to all armed oppression.
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.
Maris and Susan
Cakars bought their farmhouse
in St. Remy in the winter of 1969, and moved up in the spring of 1970. I met
them then, when they arrived and found me living in their house, They took me in
(well, I was already in) with the graciousness and openhanded acceptance that
always characterized them. A lover of family, friends and country music, Maris
Cakars combined, as much as anyone I have ever known, an unflagging opposition
to social injustice and an ebullient, life-affirming sense of humor.
He is survived by his wife, Susan; his son,
Janis; his daughter, Andrea; his mother, Vera Cakars; and his brother, Egils
Melbardis.
Donations in Cakars' name may be made to the
St, Remy Fire Department or the War Resisters' League.
Tad Richards
|