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William Blum of ‘Anti-Empire Report’ Needs Help
By Theodore Sayeed
Global Research, November 18, 2018
Mondoweiss 1 November 2018
Url of this article:
https://www.globalresearch.ca/william-blum-of-anti-empire-report-needs-help/5660217

William Blum is a powerful voice. His analysis of US imperialism reaches out to thousands of readers. He has contributed to Global Research for more than ten years. To consult his writings click here

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The historian and critic of US foreign policy William Blum has been in failing health for some time. 85 years old, he suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis. Over two weeks ago he sustained a serious fall at his apartment in the Washington, D.C., area and was rushed to the hospital after a friend discovered him still lying where he fell two days after his injury.

Below is a letter from family notifying readers of his newsletter, the Anti-Empire Report, by email why it has missed publication this month and detailing the extent of his medical injuries:

I’m writing to you in place of William Blum.

I’m his friend, his ex-wife, and the mother of his son, who lives in Germany.

He will not be able to write his Anti-Empire Report.

He had a very bad fall in his apartment. There he lay for many hours, maybe up to two days, unable to move, until a friend found him.

He was taken to the ICU. He is no longer in critical condition, but he is still confused, extremely weak, and can’t move his right arm.

He has been in the hospital for more than two weeks now, and it is impossible to say how much longer he has to stay there, and he will certainly need long-term care.

As you may guess, he does not have the best of insurances. Which means: he needs your help!

If you wish, you can donate to Bill using the button below:

DONATE

Adelheid Zöfel
Literary Translator
Freiburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]

Last year Blum wrote about his deteriorating physical state:

My kidneys are gone and I’m on (rather unpleasant) dialysis for the rest of my life. My separated-from German wife is in Germany and can’t fly because of the danger of blood clots forming and lodging in her lungs or heart. I’m an avid reader of medical news and almost every day I get choked-up and depressed by the never-ending heart-breaking stories of incurable pain and suffering of the old and the young.

So far the dialysis does not seem to have helped, at least not with my two main symptoms: deep-seated sleepiness at home, resulting in repeated naps, making my writing difficult; and getting out-of-breath and having to stop and rest after a very short and slow walk outdoors.

Blum is the author of five books, most notably Rogue State: A Guide To The World’s Only Superpower, an encyclopedia of US meddling around the world, and Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, widely considered to be the single most exhaustive treatment of all post-war US bombing campaigns and coups.

He will need long term care. His medical bills are mounting and, in light of the fact he gave up a well paying career in the US State Department over the Vietnam War to be a dissident writer, and given he was blacklisted from lecturing at colleges, his health insurance is not sufficient to cover his expenses. If you want to help, please consider making a contribution to this appeal by visiting his website, scrolling down to the bottom, and clicking the “donate button”.

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