Profiles in Leadership: Tim Wheeler — A life of activism

by Paul J. Pickett, Clallam Democrats Rising newsletter team

Tim Wheeler (Photo credit: Keith Ross / Keith’s Frame of Mind)

When Tim Wheeler walks in the Democrats HQ with me, he hands me two books. “I autographed them!” he says. “Did you see me in the Irrigation Festival?” I tell him I saw on Facebook that he was honored as a “pioneer”. He laughs and tells me one of the organizers is a big supporter of Clallam Democrats.  Sitting down with him, Tim’s smile and jolly demeanor may fool you into thinking he’s not serious. But at 85, he’s every bit the dedicated activist. He serves on the Clallam Democrats Executive Boards a Trustee for District 1, he shows up at just about every event, organizes sign-waving, draws custom-designed signs, writes opinion pieces, marches in parades…and on and on. Tim is a man of his word, and a man of many words. He seemed a great candidate to teach us about a life of activism.

1. Tell me a little about your past – where did you grow up, where have you lived?
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“I was born in D.C., where my parents were federal workers. My Dad was blacklisted” (during the Joe McCarthy era) “and we left for Seattle, where most of our family lived.” Tim tells how his father looked around for a place to start a dairy farm, and bought a farm in Sequim in 1948. “My parents wanted to drop out, disappear. They had no radio or newspaper subscription. But they had 78 RPM records of Paul Robeson. I loved them!” When Robeson had a show in Seattle, Tim was nearly broke, but his Mom let Tim and his brother Steve hitchhike to Seattle to hear Robeson sing. He asked his teacher for permission to skip school for a day, and his teacher asked him why. When Tim told him he wanted
to see Paul Robeson, his teacher replied, ‘I wish I could go!’.

Tim thrived in Clallam County. “It was the basic democracy of American people. I was always welcomed in the community.” There was a strong left-wing community in Clallam then. “Port Angeles was founded by the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony. They were utopian socialists who believed in share and share alike.” Tim met organizers like Vivian Gaboury. “She mobilized the labor movement and community organizations to build what is now OMC to treat wounded
loggers, millworkers, and farmers.” He thrived in Sequim High School. “I loved it, there were many wonderful teachers.”

Inspired by his art teacher, he applied to Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he studied on and off for several years. During one break, he returned to Seattle and took classes at the University of Washington. “That’s where I met my wife Joyce. I was always drawn to activism, getting out in the streets and going to demonstrations. I helped the Student Peace Union at UW, and joined a march at the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle in 1962.”

After finishing at Amherst, he went to Portland to study to be a school teacher at Reed College. “I was thriving as a teacher, but also deeply involved in organizing. I was flunking out.” Tim got a cow-milking job, then a union job at a paper mill. “I met a CPUSA organizer, who heard I was a writer. He hired me, and I became a reporter in New York City.”  This launched a writing career that spanned four decades.
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Tim continues with a burst of energy. “I was a go-getter as a reporter.” He provides an example. “There was an uprising in Newark, and people were killed. I went with a photographer to cover it. I walked into the police station and asked for the coroner’s report. The cop said ‘go back to New York’. As I walked out, the secretary up front whispered to me to go to the hospital to get the report. The report said that the victims were shot in the back, over and over. I interviewed a woman whose son was shot. I was always looking for the grassroots.”

He left New York to live 30 years in Baltimore, where his wife taught school and he worked from D.C. “Joyce was always the breadwinner,” he notes. He rose from a reporter to the editor of the People’s World. Finally in 2006, he and Joyce retired and moved back to Sequim. “I moved to the family farm with my sister Honeybee,” (another Clallam Dems activist) “and my brother Steve. Right away I plugged into political activities. Joyce and I worked to turn out the vote for Barack Obama, whose father Barack Obama (senior) visited our farm in 1962 when we were all students at UW. Obama carried Clallam County in both 2008 and 2012 by a handful of votes, thanks in large part to Joyce’s doorbelling.”

Tim continues to live on the family farm in Sequim. His place off Woodcock Road is easy to spot – the street is lined with political signs for Democratic candidates and causes.
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2. What led you to the Democratic Party? 

Tim says “I’m drawn to the grassroots, both regional and local. Masses of people are the leading force to preserve and expand democracy and benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare.”
He describes with pride his work organizing street-corner sign waves. But he expresses frustration with the national Democratic Party. “I have very deep differences with them, such as with their attitude toward free-trade agreements. Clinton supported NAFTA, which wiped out union jobs.”

I asked about his involvement with the Democrats after a career with CPUSA. “The curse of the left is sectarianism,” he explains. “There are arrogant leftwingers who won’t compromise. We need a broad coalition, a united front, everyone welcome, Democrats, Republicans---in the mold of Abraham Lincoln---Independents, Socialists, Communists ready to unite in defense of democracy, race and gender equality, and world peace.”

3. What has been the highest point for you as a Democrat?

“There was an unforgettable moment,” Tim reminisces. “I was at a 2008 rally in Denver at Mile High Stadium with about 85,000 people. It was the end of the convention that nominated Obama. I looked around – ‘Look at this crowd! Such a mix of so many backgrounds.’ We still need that kind of coalition.”

4. What leadership positions have you held in the past? How did that experience prepare you for
your position with Clallam Dems?

Tim thinks for a moment. “I was editor at People’s World. I’m on the Executive Board of PSARA.” (Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action) “Now I’m a Trustee for Clallam Dems.”
“These are all important assignments” he continues. “But the important thing isn’t leadership alone.
It’s leadership plus grassroots activism. You need to be active and try to influence people.”

5. What advice would you give to a volunteer thinking of taking on more responsibility in the Democrats?

“Be consistent,” Tim responds. “If you make a commitment, keep the commitment. This is not momentary, it’s an ongoing thing. You have a responsibility to who you work with. If you take on a responsibility – be there.”

6. How do we pass the legacy of the Democratic party to future generations?

Tim answers immediately, “Recruit more young people. When young people are engaged, support them fully.” He continues, “Teach the history. That’s why I wrote my books.” He says we need to convince young people there is a future – avoid cynicism and despair. “We don’t have to accept the rule of billionaires. Young people are more radical. They care about immigrants, the cost of college, the loss of benefits. We need a program that appeals to young people.  We need a real campaign on the issues.”

[Tim Wheeler’s books include: News for the 99% (Volumes 1 and 2); News from Rain Shadow County; and No Power Greater – The Life and Times of George A. Meyers (International Publishers, https://www.intpubnyc.com/book-author/tim-wheeler/ 
and https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/nopowergreater/)]