The Last Post

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Writer, Philosopher, Thinker, Musician, Artist

The Anonymous Revolutionary – Max Edwards, our son – died on 26th March 2016, age 16.

He loved writing this blog and sharing his ideas with you.  In the later months of his life in particular it was a great source of comfort to him.

Thank you all for your support.

Thank you all for making a young revolutionary very happy.

Dan & Jenny x

212 thoughts on “The Last Post”

      • British communist writer and thinker Christopher Caudwell was at his 30 when a great loss occurred with his passing away. At the time this occurred, none of his works was published. Now, we can confidently say that British marxism, leninism and bolshevism surpassed Caudwell with Max Edwards who will surely be followed by many new Caudwells and Edwards thanks to Max. Ulvi

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  3. Pingback: Marxist blogger who wrote about his terminal cancer dies aged 16 | UK news | The Guardian | My Life in a Bush of Ghosts.

  6. My heartfelt condolences to Max’s loved ones. I am reading this blog and his intelligence, sensitivity and passion really shine through. What a loss. Thank you for keeping the blog available and for raising such a wonderful person.

    Rest in power, comrade Max Edwards!

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  9. Wow, I’ve just sat and read the first 4 of Max’s blogs and I will continue and read them all. I teach history and am a Socialist and I can tell that Max’s knowledge and understanding were exceptional. As a young man with a range of talents you must be very proud of your son. As a very talented writer, he was clearly destined for great things. Life can be cruel and make no sense, but on the face of it, Max appeared to write as if he had made some sense of it, how amazing that someone so young should leave behind a meaningful legacy. An exceptional boy. So very sad.

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  11. So sad to hear that Max has gone. I found this blog via the guardian article Max wrote. I was stunned by how articulate he was for his age. My husband is a Marxist and i told him about this blog, he thought it was incredibly intelligent and well written. Dan and Jenny you should be incredibly proud, your son was an inspiration x

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  12. I just wanted to say I’m thinking of you all. Max’s writing is so beautiful, thought-provoking and full of depth. He was a very special man who’s left a lasting and powerful legacy.

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  13. Mere words seem wholly inadequate at a time like this. However, I felt compelled to tell you just how much Max inspired and impressed this old Marxist. Only 16 but to have achieved so much! Having no belief in the notion of an afterlife, we must take out comfort and strength from what the real world offers us. In your case, that must be the joy of having had such an extraordinary son and, hopefully, the knowledge that people are thinking of you during this terrible time.

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  14. I’m afraid I only became aware of Max in an article in today’s Guardian. Having read his recent article on his approach to his impending death, I am quite moved by his wisdom which is far beyond his years. I would like to think that I would feel very similar to Max if faced with such circumstances, and although I am not unwell, it does give some comfort that should it happen to me, I might be as dignified and stoic as Max.

    My condolences go to Max’s family and friends, and I suspect he may have had more of an impact upon other people’s lives than he knew.

    Best wishes, Hugh

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  18. Your son is an inspiration and a credit to you both as parents.

    What an inspiration he was during the all too short time he lived. He truly lived the one life we have well and touched many people with his candid and well crafted writing. His blog may have been called The Anonymous Revolutionary but he was far from anonymous. Max Edwards, Marxist, Leninist, Bolshevist and internationalist. Thank you.

    Please accept my heartfelt condolences on your loss.

    Regards
    Andy Walker, socialist and humanist, aged 52

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  19. From an Italian mother, Milan. Your loss breaks our hearts. Your son has been brave, both as a thinker and as a feeler. We will tell the too short, but so meaningful story of this remarkable human being, your son.

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  20. Even after the advent of the communist society the loss of a child will remain a terrible thing to experience and so, as a Father, my deepest condolences to you both. Not all young men are sufficiently gifted or determined to make a contribution to the liberation of man as was Max. So again my condolences but this time as a comrade.

    For Communism!

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  21. I didn’t know until today his existence on this planet. Today, I’ve read about him from news. I wish I knew him before. But, I will read his writing. I am sure this brilliant young man left many ideas, valuable opinions behind him. And when I’ll read his writing I will meet many times with him.

    I’d like to express myself in Russian, because it is easy for me:

    To his family and loved ones:
    Хотелось бы найти слова, чтобы хоть как-то облегчить вашу боль, но трудно. Разделяю Ваше горе. Очень жаль, примите мои соболезнования.
    (I would like to find the words to ease your pain in somehow, but it is difficult. I share your grief. I am very sorry, please accept my condolences.)

    To Max Edwards:
    Отдых в мире, молодой товарищ Max Edwards!
    (Rest in peace, young comrade Max Edwards!)

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    • Read the first and the last stanza of Charlotte bro tea poem for Anne Bronte and Donald’s Justice. We shall not ever meet him among the bearded in heaven
      Nor sunning himself among the bald in hell.
      If only Max could know your message……

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  26. I just read Max’s piece in The Guardian from last week, not realizing he had died. What a beautiful, remarkable young man. His words touched me deeply. My warmest thoughts to you in the face of such incredible loss.

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  27. Dear Max and family, I have just heard the news and I am very sad that your family and friends have lost the mortal you, which seemed to me very beautiful, intelligent, brilliant, brave and wise, beyond what most people acquire in many, many more years here. Perhaps, you crystallised everything and distilled it all the more potently because of your limited time here, perhaps it was your education or what appears to be such a nurturing, kind and intellectually invigorating family. I do not know, I do not know you or your family. But I read your article with interest, intrigued by at what seemed a unheard perspective on life and death. I spent time thinking about your words, reading your blog and looking at your photos. You seem to me to be a pretty brilliant being. I am glad I read your words and I am guessing they will stay with me a long time and perhaps change my life in some way too… I hope that your insightful, sensible, tender perspective makes life and facing death easier for others. But I also have faith that your keen political investigation will have a life beyond yours too. Perhaps you are part of an awakening of consciousness in humanity that will lead to greater peace and equality, I hope so. I imagine the joy in a vigorous intellectual exploration had merit enough. Either way, I am sad you are gone from this physical world in body, especially for your family, but glad your work and words live on! Thank you for being here. Gentle peace to you as you go into the unknown. To your family, gratitude for raising a beautiful son and his equally beautiful siblings. Your son will live on with us all in some ways. Deep peace to you. Katie Roberts

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  31. I Wanna say one thing to the parents of Max. Dear Dan and Jenny: you are wonderful. You grew up such a wonderful and charming young man, so this is exactly how you have to be. I read that you have two more kids: keep on. Just go on with the fantastic job you did as Max’s parents. I don’t know if what happened will ever make any sense, but it touched so many people around the world, that I want to say thank you. Thank to you and your son, for sharing such experience. This thing taught so much to many. Sorry I can’t say anything better. Whish you all the best that life can still offer.

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  32. People like Max help me to believe in humankind!
    Personas como Max me ayudan a creer en la humanidad.
    Desde las Islas Canarias, ¡Salud, camarada!

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  33. More communism is needed in this world! You are a bright star, a bright intelligence, a bright spirit. I wish some of this is in any Young boy all over the world. This will make the world a better place. My sympathy to the parents and relatibes of this wonderful human being.

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  36. So sorry for your loss. Max’s writing touched me, like so many others, and left me with a strong sense of the kind, noble and fiercely intelligent young man that he was. As you grieve, I hope that you may take strength from the immense pride that you should feel.

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  38. Very sorry to hear about the awful loss of Max at such a young age. I only came across his blog due to today’s article in The Guardian but I can see he was a very insightful young man. I only wish I had discovered his blog much earlier so I could have at least told him how good I think it is. Marx was right and Max was very articulate in explaining why.

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  40. Pingback: Morto il blogger marxista Max Edwards di cancro a 16 anni, articolo di The guardian anche | controappuntoblog.org

  41. May you find some peace in the knowledge that you raised an amazingly beautiful person. I will think of his bravery often and hope to be a better person for being aware of Max’s unique perspective. I’m sure everyone could learn something from Max.

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  42. Dear Jenny and Dan. To my great regret, I did not know Max during his lifetime. It is so much a great deficiency that we, revolutionaries, could not have a much closer and quicker acquaintance.
    But despite this, we are all conscious of the immense value of Max’s thinking.
    We are all conscious to what extent Max was conscious of the value of Marx, Engels, Lenin, of October revolution.
    He is a great son of humanity and I think we need to communicate, on the path to follow Max’s heritage.
    We have a lot to do for humanity’s communist future with a lot of eternal contribution by Max.
    Please write to ulvi.icil@gmail.com
    Ulvi

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  43. Whether you agreed with his ideology or not, one thing is beyond dispute. This young man’s writing demonstrated a level of skill and maturity which far exceeded his years. An old head on very young shoulders.
    To quote Blade Runner “The light that burns twice as bright, burns for half as long”. Max Edwards burned very brightly indeed and this blog shall remain a monument to a young man who’s intelligence was incandescent.

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  44. “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” – Vladimir Ilich Lenin
    Hasta siempre. You were a bright star for us all, comrade.

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  46. Being a contemporary 16 year old blogger myself, the feelings are all too real. What Max strove to accomplish in this far from perfect world is no mystery.he was blunt, stoic and to the point, and has in the process taught me how to live again.
    My heartfelt condolences and warm hugs may not sooth the scars he has left behind but you as his parents ought to know that scars heal and voids are filled with love, hope and encouragement.
    And so i feel the urge to send across all the love, all the hope and all the encouragement the world possesses, in a bid to erase such a dark day as this from all of history.

    I leave you with this, a few stanza’s from a poem so dear to me that sums up Max in a nutshell-

    “Do not go gentle into that good night,
    Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
    Because their words had forked no lightning they
    Do not go gentle into that good night.”

    I bid you well in the future
    all the love, all the hope and all the encouragement xx.

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  47. Dear Jenny, Dan, Esme and Toby, I mourn and cry the losses…My 16th years old boy Fei had very similar prognosis as Max, and appeared to be same stoic, dignified, brave and intelligent when facing with the circumstances. He was gone last November. My mail: Chengchenz@gmail.com warmest thoughts and hugs, -Chen, Don and Ming from San Francisco, USA

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  50. Our thoughts are with you D, J, E and T from all of us in the Tomes family.

    For Max, from Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach:

    “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it. “

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