His forebears were working-class people who came to Michigan from Croatia. Charley's grandparents were founding members of the United Auto Workers. They participated in the historic auto industry struggles in Detroit during the Thirties. Charley was born in the Motor City in 1949, the son of a union carpenter and a garment worker. As a youth in Detroit, he attended what had been an all-black inner-city school. In the sixties he studied anthropology at Wayne State University, participated in Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and supported the Black liberation movement.
As a war resister, Charley came to Canada with his wife Jenny in 1972. He supported his growing family (Kiva was born in 1972, and Mirko in 1975) by working in foundries and mines. At the Anaconda brass foundry in Etobicoke (near Toronto) he became a member of the United Steelworkers (USW), and joined the Communist Party of Canada. He also began his long association with Amex-Canada (Americans Exiled in Canada), an organization of Vietnam war-resisters and Canadians who supported them.
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