Dear David

Apologies. Other Pluto priorities intervened and I was unable to respond before I left the office on Friday. (You mentioned my undertaking to give you a written response - I hope by that you meant an email, and not a hard copy letter in addition.)

Further to our conversation on Thursday, I understand from David Castle that the publishing agreement with the Victor Serge Foundation was cancelled on 12 May, by mutual consent. Pluto is not waiting for a resolution to the various misunderstandings and disagreements, which I think is the position you were inferring from my comments last week. As far as we are concerned, Pluto has no interest in the eventual publication of the work any longer, and steps away from any further involvement in any discussions about the subject.

Naturally, this is not the most satisfactory outcome to the dilemma, but it is the only workable one, in our view, and I am not willing to enter into any further discussions on the topic.

Yours

Anne

Anne Beech

Managing Director

Pluto Press

345 Archway Road

London N6 5AA

UK

Direct line: XXXXXXXXX

From: David Curtis <curtis@msh-paris.fr>
Date: Monday, 4 July 2016 14:44
To: Beech <beech@plutobooks.com>
Subject: Re: A Sincere and Hopeful Effort

What happened to your firm promise to get back to me on Friday?

Are you OK?

On 7/2/2016 11:12 AM, David Curtis wrote:

Dear Anne Beech:

Thank you again for speaking with me on the phone Thursday and promising to provide me an account by Friday afternoon of how Pluto Press conceives the status of the Socialisme ou Barbarie Anthology translation project.

What happened? I received no response from you. I hope you are OK.

Will you be able to provide the promised written reply by Monday morning?

Please be so kind as to keep your word and answer me.

Sincerely,

David Ames Curtis

On 6/30/2016 11:44 AM, David Curtis wrote:

Dear Anne Beech:

Thank you so much for agreeing to speak with me this morning when I called you to follow up on my June 21 e-missive (see again below).

By the end of the workday tomorrow (Friday), I'll await word from you, as you promised, about the current state of the Socialisme ou Barbarie Anthology translation project at Pluto Press.

As I reminded you, my agreement with the Victor Serge Foundation specifies that I am now the interlocutor with Pluto Press for this project and also that, in the event of a disagreement between me and the VSF, the VSF is contractually obliged to communicate with me to seek resolution--something the VSF has so far refused to do since Richard Greeman has yet to provide an explanation for his actions, let alone seek resolution. So, please explicitly confirm that, until further notice, the translation project is still on with Pluto Press and that all Pluto Press is awaiting is a resolution among the other parties. I am hereby informing you that Richard Greeman has no legal standing to cancel this project unilaterally.

I also pointed out that David Castle promised to investigate what he himself called this "strange" turn of events, after I laid out for him the series of communications and actions involving certain representations made to Pluto Press that were either contradictory or inaccurate or both; see: https://www.kaloskaisophos.org/rt/rtdac/victor-serge-foundation-pluto-press-correspondence-timeleine-with-david-ames-curtis.html I am still awaiting the results of this investigation. David Castle made certain grossly inaccurate claims concerning my conduct that do not hold up to independent scrutiny (see the arguments advanced here: http://www.autonomieentwurf.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Anthology_Unpublished-_Who_Is_Afraid_of_S._ou_B._.pdf ). I therefore request that Pluto explicitly withdraw all unfounded accusations against me and, in order to redress itself, conduct a proper investigation. Otherwise, Pluto Press appears either complicit in false accusations or unwilling to make sure that it has not been duped.

Again, I thank you for your kindness in responding to me and look forward to your prompt, substantive, and thorough reply.

I would also be glad to have the opportunity, as the person designated by the VSF to communicate with Pluto Press about this project, to discuss with you and others at Pluto, how, based upon existing agreements, it would be possible to move forward, even at this time. Let us not let this opportunity slip by.

Please show your open-mindedness and constructive intent when replying to me. Many people are awaiting completion of this project and are counting on Pluto Press to do the right thing.

Sincerely,

David Ames Curtis
+33 1 453 853 96
Skype: davidamescurtis


On 6/21/2016 6:03 PM, David Curtis wrote:

Dear Anne Beech:

Some of the many people following the unfortunate situation concerning the ready-to-copy-edit-and-publish, but currently blocked, Socialisme ou Barbarie Anthology translation project have spoken very highly of you. I write therefore to appeal to your sense of fair play and justice as Managing Editor of the radical Pluto Press, in the hopes that the present stalemate might be broken and that we might all be able to proceed in a positive manner, respecting existing signed agreements.

In good faith and with great enthusiasm and optimism, I completed the draft translation for the Socialisme ou Barbarie Anthology, which represents upwards of $30,000.00 of professional translation work on my part (I’ve been a professional translator for more than three decades). The day after I notified Richard Greeman that I had signed my agreement with the VSF, suddenly--in what Pluto Press Editor David Castle described as a "strange" set of events warranting investigation--everything that had been agreed upon between the VSF and Pluto and between the VSF and myself was called into question. See: https://www.kaloskaisophos.org/rt/rtdac/victor-serge-foundation-pluto-press-correspondence-timeleine-with-david-ames-curtis.html I'm still awaiting from Richard Greeman a clear explanation of what happened as well as a resumption of this translation project, which I first announced in 1992 and have since worked very hard, amid many obstacles, to bring near to completion. The translation is ready to be copyedited and then proofed, prior to final publication.

Nor is this a matter confined to me alone. Many people, an entire collective, are concerned by the Soubscan.org and Soubtrans.org Projects. A public letter has been composed by two distinguished German sociologists: http://www.autonomieentwurf.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Anthology_Unpublished-_Who_Is_Afraid_of_S._ou_B._.pdf and a copy of this document was sent to Richard Greeman. To my knowledge, he has not even shown the kindness and courtesy to acknowledge receipt, let alone respond in any substantive way.

Please note, before responding, that my agreement with the VSF specifies that, if any problems arise, they must be worked out, first by mutual communication, between the VSF and myself. This, however, is precisely what Richard has so far refused to do. Moreover, the agreement specifies that I am to be direct interlocutor with Pluto Press. So, any decision between VSF and Pluto to halt the project is invalid until things can be worked out between the VSF and myself.

Also, as I have made abundantly clear in my communications with Pluto Press, it was Richard who told me over two years ago (before we contacted Pluto Press) that Helen Arnold and Daniel Blanchard had relented in their earlier opposition to me translating the Anthologie they edited.. Moreover, it was I who, on that basis, suggested that Helen and Daniel be sent the draft MS translation, in order to solicit their input--a suggestion Richard rejected. So, I have not been "concealing" anything from Pluto or the VSF and I have always proceeded aboveboard and honestly. Please read the summary carefully, and you'll see that I've been highly careful and conscientious at all stages of the process.

I write respectfully to ask you to intervene, reexamining the whole situation and communicating with me directly, so that an amicable solution to this affair can be found, based upon valid, signed agreements. I would be glad to speak with you on the phone or Skype (my handle: davidamescurtis). I hope that you will demonstrate a sense of curiosity and openness, by taking up positively this sincere and hopeful effort on my part to find a just resolution.

Please be so kind as to respond in an interrogative and constructive, not a reactive, mode.

Sincerely,

David Ames Curtis