Foreword
The idea of writing about Harry Bridges first occurred to me in the
mid-fifties. I was finishing a book about longshoring， and one day
I said excitedly to my wife， \"You know， as soon as I get this done，
I m going to start in on one about Bridges.\" Happily， she knew me
better than I knew myself. \"Wait at least five years，\" she cautioned.
\"You re so impressed with the guy right now you couldn t do an
honest book about him.\"
For once， I took her advice. In fact， I did even better. I waited
six years， so it was 1961 when I wrote Bridges to tell him of my
intention and to ask if he would cooperate. He didn t answer， nor
did he answer a follow-up letter I sent him a few weeks later.
His staff at union headquarters (the union is the West Coast In-
ternational Longshoremen s and Warehousemen s Union)， by con-
trast， could scarcely have been more encouraging. \"Come on out，\"
they urged me. (I was living in Michigan.) \"You ll have access to
all the stuff in the records except Harry s personal files. And don t
be put off by his negative attitude. He won t interfere with what
you re doing and， anyway， he ll come around in time.\"
They were wrong. He didn t interfere， but he never came around.
In 1962， the staff let me use an empty office just off the rooms
where the records are kept， and I worked there for a year. Union
headquarters is in a small building， and I saw a fair amount of
~id-Huds.on
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