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NORTH AMERICA NEWS
A Personal Tribute to Harvey Brodsky from Jacob Peled
When Harvey Brodsky passed away recently, we published an obituary in the pages of Retreading Business – and quite right too, for there are not many who did as much for the
that day I have never used this term.
Our next encounter was in Louisville, Kentucky at the ARA Retread Show. You decided that we shall be walking to the hotel,
period for the retread industry as it is now, despite the fact that it is still the No. 1 tire recycling. The low-price tires coming mainly from China are hurting this industry, in a manner that is hard to describe. We know it will be over, but it does take its time and toll.
In our business, there are few giants like you and it makes our
industry special. I want to thank you Harvey for the many years of true friendship, but I still cannot forgive you for leaving us. Like most people in the tire and rubber arena, we love you.
Rest in peace my friend. I will never forget you.
As you would say:
“Asever”
Jacob
Retread Instead Launches Aggressive Dear Senator Letter Campaign
retreading industry in his lifetime, as he did. Under normal circumstances, we are not in the habit of publishing multiple obituaries. However, we were touched by this very personal tribute from Harvey’s long-time friend, Jacob Peled, which we are happy to reproduce here.
My Dear Harvey,
I am actually very upset at you personally, for having left this world which you loved so much.
If I could talk to you now face to face, we would probably be exchanging jokes and gossiping about the retread industry that became an inseparable part of your soul.
I remember how many times, when I told you that it’s time to rest, your answer was “you’ll have plenty of time to rest when you’re dead”. Now you have time, but knowing you, you are probably up to something which is unusual, rare, but never unethical.
When I met you for the first time 41 years ago, the first thing that impressed me was your positive attitude towards almost everything in life and your deep dismay of bigotry, lies and inequality.
I remember you told me when we were standing in the rain on a dreary day in Akron and I told you how I hate this weather, your immediate response was “You don’t hate the weather, you hate Hitler or bigotry”. Harvey, since
which was “only” 5 miles away. You picked up an old newspaper and threw to a garbage can. Your words were “if ever yone picks up one piece of garbage a day, the world will become the cleanest place”. Ever since, I pick up some garbage ever y day, despite the fact that the world has not yet become cleaner, but it will.
In so many ways you have shaped my life and influenced me, like many other people, in your simple, straightforward and ver y convincing opinions, as you had an opinion about everything, mostly positive. I think this is what attracted people to you.
You have over the years rather often, asked me for professional advice and assistance. You have always thanked me for it. You have never taken it for granted. The only thing you have taken for granted is the necessity for you to assist other people.
One of your greatest impacts was your love of reading literature of any kind. I have never seen anyone who carried with him on every trip, so many books. You would always give those books as presents to other people when you had finished reading them. You have taught me the love of literature and to many others.
The one thing that makes me happy about your departure is that you do not have to see the miserable time that our industry is going through. I do not remember a more difficult, unrewarding
Retread Instead, the PR programme created to enhance the awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of retreading throughout North America has announced the launch of an aggressive “Dear United States Senator Campaign.”
The primar y function of Retread InsteadTM is to support imposing tariffs, antidumping duties (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on commercial Chinese truck and bus tyres that are imported into the United States.
The specific goals of the new campaign are to educate and inform all U.S. Senators of;
- the urgency of making sure that the United States International Trade Commission at all times has a full complement of commissioners to ensure fair and balanced determinations.
- the well over 60,000 U.S. jobs in retreading and
related industries that are being threatened by the importation of non retreadable truck and bus tyres from China that are sold at below fair market value.
- the environmental impact of non retreadable truck tyres that is evidenced by the millions of used tyres being sent to US landfills each year.
- the need to conserve natural resources by using new premium, high quality truck and bus tyres that can be repaired, retreaded and run multiple times before having to be replaced thus, saving millions of pounds of raw materials each year.
“Gene Walker, Vice President of Premier Rubber Company has been a major supporter of Retread Instead since its inception. We need more industry leaders like Gene to join the campaign and reach out to their US Senators and request that they fill all open positions at the United States
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