Next week will be a nervous time for me at the RFC because we should receive a flood of ticket orders for our program CARRY IT FORWARD: Celebrate the Children of Resistance.  We’ve been planning this dramatic event to mark the 60th anniversary of my parents’ execution, for more than a year.  The venue (Town Hall) is set, the script is written, the headliners are on board, the sound and lights teams are in place, the program book is being designed, and we began selling advance tickets to our community a month ago.

On Tuesday we mailed thousands of invitations to progressive people in the greater New York City area and I can’t help being a bit anxious about the response.  My worry is probably needless.  With people like Angela Davis topping the bill, our track record of producing powerful performances, a major milestone to commemorate and the size of our responsive community in New York City, it is hard to imagine we’ll have many seats left to sell come June.

But I worry, nevertheless.  In fact, since we’ve already sold a few hundred seats through advance ticket orders, my concern may shift quickly to fearing that some of our dear friends will be unable to get good seats if they don’t place their orders immediately.  But all the tension of staging a big production is worth it because whenever we hold a major event we engage our community and I receive remarkable communications.  I quote portions of a letter I received yesterday below:

“June 19th is a sad day for me, too, as my mother-in-law died … that day….  My own father died earlier this year, but had the good fortune to live to age 105, and to outlive all the McCarthyites who fired him from his teaching job in 1955 for taking the 5th amendment about whether he had been a communist. He was able to fight them for 6 years, and win his job back, with back pay.

Of course, nothing can bring your parents back, but you have done a wonderful job of making it possible for children today not to have to go through what you went through.

I am unable to attend the celebration, but I am sending a contribution … representing 60 years since your parents have been gone and the … years that I had with my father.  I hope it is a wonderful program on June 16th.”

Receiving a note like this is a powerful reminder of how meaningful the Rosenberg Fund for Children is, not just to the families we aid, but to our entire community of support.  This is why we take the time not only to “commemorate,” but also to “celebrate” on the anniversary of my parents’ execution.  As I’ve written before we celebrate our transformation of the destruction that was visited upon my family into a constructive force to benefit targeted activist families today.

I hope as many of our supporters as possible can join us on June 16th.  And I urge all of you who are considering attending to act now, not only to ensure that you get very good seats, but also to keep me from worrying too much.

To purchase tickets ($30, $50, $100) by check via surface mail, and avoid service charges, download an order form here.  To purchase via credit card, visit Ticketmaster online here or by phone at (800) 982-2787.  Contact the RFC office at (413) 529-0063 or info@rfc.org for limited mobility tickets.