Jim Smith has left the Venice Beachhead collective. Knowing the amount of work that goes into doing Yo! Venice!, I’d like to personally thank Jim for his decade of work sharing ideas with the community at the Beachhead. From the July issue of the Beachhead:
Dear Beachhead,
Three months ago I gave notice of leaving the Collective that publishes this paper. Now it’s time to step aside. Working on the Beachhead for the past 10 years has been a labor of love. But I believe each person is more than the job or role he or she performs. So, it is time to put away this mask and just be myself.
Many things in Venice are called unique, but the Free Venice Beachhead truly is. It is the last underground newspaper still alive and kickin’ from the Sixties. It has become the “paper of record” for Venice.
In addition to all the great friends I’ve made while performing my Beachhead duties, I take pride in having contributed in a small way to saving Lincoln Place, stopping lots of development schemes that would have only hurt the community, and lighting a spark of remembrance that will, I’m sure, result in a permanent memorial to the shameful treatment our Japanese neighbors were subjected to during World War II.
My only regret is that there is not a mass movement for cityhood at present. That task will be for those who will follow in the footsteps of John Haag, Rick Davidson, Carol Fondiller and all the others who have heroically stood in the path of Los Angeles bulldozers, both physical and political, and proclaimed Venice a sacred space.
I will now join the exalted ranks of Beachhead readers, who are of course, the most important part of this newspaper. If you’ve enjoyed any of the things I’ve written during these past years, you can best show it by making a donation, or becoming a sustainer, of this unique publication.
– Jim Smith
