Dick Stubbs
Richard Stubbs was born in April 1909 to a mother who was a former Belfast mill worker. His father was a Lancashire tin smith father, who moved the family to Cheltenham sto seek work. There, he chaired the strike committee in Cheltenham during the 1926 general strike, while Dick and his sisters joined the YCL.
Stubbs met his wife Joyce Whittaker in the Communist Party and, from the 1930s was working in advertising and publicity, taking these skills into the army and spending the war in Cairo.
Although he retained a strong belief in social progress, his work after the war as spokesman for the British authorities in Palestine and then in Greece, saw him quietly leave the Party.
In later years, he worked in PR.
He twice refused a knighthood for his services to the 1945-51 government, making clear he did not agree with the honours system and still retained support for progressive causes.
He died aged 87.
Guardian January 2nd 1997
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