Gino Perente
Encyclopedia
Eugenio Mario Perente-Ramos (Gino Perente) (21 November 1937 - 18 March 1995) was the founder of the National Labor Federation
(NATLFED), a collection of anti-poverty organizations in the United States. The NATLFED's organizations conduct door-to-door canvassing and operate assistance programs for the poor, but it has also been described by critics as a left-wing "political cult
." Some reporters, cult-watchers, and the FBI inferred in the early 1980s that he was born Gerald William Doeden, a disc jockey
and con artist from California
.
and grew up in Idaho
and Yuba City
/Marysville, California
. He was an amateur actor who performed in plays at Yuba College.
Doeden married Ruth Mikkelsen in 1960, and had a daughter. Weidner reports that he had an illegitimate child and divorced Mikkelsen in 1962. He spent some time in jail for non-payment of child support
, and some observers have suggested that he may have left California to avoid child support payments.
Doeden was injured in a car accident and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He was known in Marysville as a small-scale con artist
.
KAGR for about five years, Doeden began working at the Little Red Bookstore in San Francisco, where he went by aliases such as "Calude" and "Gino Savo."
A number of individuals associated with the store reportedly formed a short-lived group called Liberation Army Revolutionary Group Organization. The group sent letters to government offices "announcing that armed guerrilla groups were about to attack public buildings" in March 1970. its only published statement, LARGO issued a proclamation of its intention to overthrow the government starting on March 15, 1970. While this quickly attracted the attention of the authorities, the group was described as quixotic by the media and dismissed by law enforcement.
as "Gino Parenti". There he worked briefly in 1971 for the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, the predecessor of United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in its New York office. After taking charge during a power vacuum, he was fired when UFW sent Jose Gomez to head the office. About 20 years later, he was remembered by Dolores Huerta
as a "colorful biker type who played a small role in the boycott for about nine months or a year.... He created a lot of problems for the union, attacking us in the press. Then he went off and formed his own group.". After leaving UFW, Perente founded the Eastern Farm Workers Association (EFWA) in Suffolk County, New York
, an agricultural region on Long Island
.
(NATLFED).
By the late 1970s, Perente's activities were increasingly limited to giving lectures to volunteers interpreting the writings of Karl Marx
, Vladimir Lenin
, and Joseph Stalin
and directing the daily activities of his volunteers. Perente also co-authored a number of tracts, including The Essential Organizer, the training manual of the EFWA, and "The Genesis," a story of the origins of NATLFED claiming that the party was part of a secret International including the Communist Party of Cuba
, the Sandinistas and revolutionaries in Chile
and El Salvador
, and that members of the Venceremos
were among its founders.
Perente retreated from public view in the mid- to late-1970s. Individuals associated with Perente purchased 1107-1115 Carrol St, an apartment building in the Crown Heights
neighborhood of Brooklyn
, and he lived there, surrounded by volunteers for his organizations, for the rest of his life. Some ex-full-time volunteers have alleged that Perente was a drug addict, sexually harassed female volunteers, and regularly physically abused some volunteer organizers during this period.
. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Stony Brook, NY by the organization he founded. The New York Times printed his obituary
, and then a correction. The initial obituary relied primarily on information from two close associates, Daniel Fiske and Christopher Day. The Times was then contacted by his former wife, former colleagues, and longtime critics of Perente, including Chip Berlet
, and, after fact-checking the initial obituary, the Times issued a corrected obituary the next day.
National Labor Federation
The National Labor Federation is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that aim to organize workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law...
(NATLFED), a collection of anti-poverty organizations in the United States. The NATLFED's organizations conduct door-to-door canvassing and operate assistance programs for the poor, but it has also been described by critics as a left-wing "political cult
Political cult
Political cult is a term used to describe some groups that are generally considered to be on the political fringe. Although the majority of groups to which the term "cult" is sometimes applied are religious in nature, some are non-religious and focus either on secular self-improvement or on...
." Some reporters, cult-watchers, and the FBI inferred in the early 1980s that he was born Gerald William Doeden, a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and con artist from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
As Gerald Doeden
Gerald Doeden was born in Crookston, MinnesotaCrookston, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,192 people, 3,078 households, and 1,819 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,658.8 people per square mile . There were 3,382 housing units at an average density of 684.8 per square mile...
and grew up in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and Yuba City
Yuba City, California
Yuba City is a Northern California city, founded in 1849. It is the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. The population was 64,925 at the 2010 census....
/Marysville, California
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...
. He was an amateur actor who performed in plays at Yuba College.
Doeden married Ruth Mikkelsen in 1960, and had a daughter. Weidner reports that he had an illegitimate child and divorced Mikkelsen in 1962. He spent some time in jail for non-payment of child support
Child support
In family law and public policy, child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship...
, and some observers have suggested that he may have left California to avoid child support payments.
Doeden was injured in a car accident and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He was known in Marysville as a small-scale con artist
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
.
Early activism
After working in Yuba City as a DJ for the radio stationRadio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
KAGR for about five years, Doeden began working at the Little Red Bookstore in San Francisco, where he went by aliases such as "Calude" and "Gino Savo."
A number of individuals associated with the store reportedly formed a short-lived group called Liberation Army Revolutionary Group Organization. The group sent letters to government offices "announcing that armed guerrilla groups were about to attack public buildings" in March 1970. its only published statement, LARGO issued a proclamation of its intention to overthrow the government starting on March 15, 1970. While this quickly attracted the attention of the authorities, the group was described as quixotic by the media and dismissed by law enforcement.
Involvement with United Farm Workers Organizing Committee and foundation of EFWA
Around 1970 Doeden left California and resurfaced in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as "Gino Parenti". There he worked briefly in 1971 for the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, the predecessor of United Farm Workers of America (UFW) in its New York office. After taking charge during a power vacuum, he was fired when UFW sent Jose Gomez to head the office. About 20 years later, he was remembered by Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta
Dolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
as a "colorful biker type who played a small role in the boycott for about nine months or a year.... He created a lot of problems for the union, attacking us in the press. Then he went off and formed his own group.". After leaving UFW, Perente founded the Eastern Farm Workers Association (EFWA) in Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
, an agricultural region on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
As head of EFWA and NATLFED
Within a few years, Perente's followers had started similar organizations patterned on EFWA in California and elsewhere on the east coast, and eventually one farm worker organizing drive had spawned a network of twenty such drives, called the National Labor FederationNational Labor Federation
The National Labor Federation is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that aim to organize workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law...
(NATLFED).
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and directing the daily activities of his volunteers. Perente also co-authored a number of tracts, including The Essential Organizer, the training manual of the EFWA, and "The Genesis," a story of the origins of NATLFED claiming that the party was part of a secret International including the Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...
, the Sandinistas and revolutionaries in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, and that members of the Venceremos
Venceremos Organization
Venceremos, Spanish for "We Will Overcome", or "We Will Prevail", was a radical left political group which took its name from the battle cry of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a revolutionary communist leader from Argentina and high ranking member of Fidel Castro's communist government in Cuba.Venceremos...
were among its founders.
Perente retreated from public view in the mid- to late-1970s. Individuals associated with Perente purchased 1107-1115 Carrol St, an apartment building in the Crown Heights
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west.Originally, the area was known as Crow Hill....
neighborhood of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, and he lived there, surrounded by volunteers for his organizations, for the rest of his life. Some ex-full-time volunteers have alleged that Perente was a drug addict, sexually harassed female volunteers, and regularly physically abused some volunteer organizers during this period.
Death
Perente died March 18, 1995 in the Crown Heights apartment of congestive heart failureCongestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Stony Brook, NY by the organization he founded. The New York Times printed his obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
, and then a correction. The initial obituary relied primarily on information from two close associates, Daniel Fiske and Christopher Day. The Times was then contacted by his former wife, former colleagues, and longtime critics of Perente, including Chip Berlet
Chip Berlet
John Foster "Chip" Berlet is an American investigative journalist, and photojournalist activist specializing in the study of right-wing movements in the United States, particularly the religious right, white supremacists, homophobic groups, and paramilitary organizations...
, and, after fact-checking the initial obituary, the Times issued a corrected obituary the next day.
Publications
- Perente, Eugenio Mario (1973). The Essential Organizer. Eastern Farmworkers Association, s.l.