Lea Zeldin
(1928 - 2009)
Lea Zeldin, an activist for social justice, world peace, civil rights, and health care for all, died Thursday, April 2, 2009, from complications of a stroke in Madison, at age 80.
Lea was born in Chicago, Ill., April 20, 1928, to Edward E. Kellner and Julia (Weisbrot) Kellner. She became involved in issues of social justice after a school trip to an Ohio prison, and by walking the picket lines for a telephone workers strike. She met her husband, Lawrence Zeldin, at Ohio State University while attending a lecture series. They were married in Columbus, where he completed a Ph.D. in Chemistry. They moved to Madison in 1953. Lawrence died in 1955 from polio.
Lea was active in the anti-nuclear movement in the 1950s. She worked with Congress On Racial Equality or CORE, in the 1960s to integrate Sears. Her anti-Vietnam War actions included demonstrations at the 1964 Wisconsin Republican and Democratic State Conventions, participating in the Dow Chemical protests at the University of Wisconsin, and performing in the anti-war play "MacBird!" Lea lived in Bologna, Italy from 1964 to 1966. She worked as a community organizer in Minneapolis, Minn., from 1969 to 1971.
An intrepid traveler, she attended conferences on health care, Slow Food, women's rights, community radio, and small farms in Mexico, Libya, Jordan, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Lea organized the Martin Luther King Free Community Dinners, worked with Response to Hunger Network, Health Writers, Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom, Low Power Radio (WIDE), the Socialist Potluck, Freedom House Free School, and other organizations. Lea was a volunteer at WORT (89.9FM) Radio, hosting Kitchen Review, Health Writers, Public Affair, and book reviews.
Lea is survived by her sons, Stephen (Rebecca Ludwig), Robin (Jeanette), Paul (Sarita), and Eric (Shari); and grandchildren, Rachel, Raphael, Emma, Noah, Jacob, and Julia. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to WORT-FM89.9, 118 S. Bedford St, Madison, WI 53703.
Proud To Be A Radical: Madison Activist Lea Zeldin Dies At 80
John Nichols
The Capital Times
Friday, April 3, 2009
Lea Zeldin loved peace, civil rights, food and communicating, with the order of her passions shifting to meet the challenges of the moment.
An ardent civil rights advocate during the 1960s, she confronted Madison liberals with the message: It is not enough to say "tsk, tsk" about the segregated south; you need to address racism and intolerance here at home in Wisconsin. So she did, organizing a local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality and, as a young mother with kids in tow, showing up for pickets and sit-ins at businesses that were not welcoming to all, including the old Sears store on East Washington Avenue.
"The CORE group in Madison was very militant," Zeldin recalled in an interview several years ago. "In those days, anything you did upset the establishment."
Zeldin didn't mind upsetting the establishment, and eventually even some of the powerbrokers in town came to recognize that she was right.
As tensions rose in Wisconsin cities in the late 1960s -- with open housing marches in Milwaukee and a takeover of the state Capitol by welfare-rights activists -- Zeldin's recognition of the reality that it was not just the south that had issues proved prescient.
Zeldin, the founder of Madison's Dr. Martin Luther King Free Community Dinners -- a perfect merging of her political and culinary concerns -- has died at age 80, after suffering a stroke last week.
Appropriately for this boisterous figure on her left-leaning city's left wing, Zeldin did not fade away slowly or quietly.
When she suffered the stroke, she was working at WORT (89.9 FM), Madison's community radio station, where she has been a fixture for decades as a commentator on food, popular culture and the crisis of the moment. Zeldin, who helped organize a free clinic on Madison's east side in the 1960s, hosted a popular bi-weekly call-in show covering medical and related issues, "Health Writers." She was, as well, a frequent host of the station's popular "A Public Affair" program, where she interviewed local, state, national and international figures with a style that was warm and engaging if she thought her guest was right on the issues but edgy and challenging if she disagreed.
Fearless and provocative, Zeldin even challenged former student leader and Mayor Paul Soglin's radical credentials, suggesting at a 2004 forum that Soglin was more of a "politician" than an activist in the 1960s and 1970s.
Zeldin was with the activists. And she never thought the title "radical" was an insult.
She organized and marched against the Vietnam War and the wars that followed. She was usually front and center at public events, challenging crowds to push harder for peace. A co-chair of the Madison Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, she was the longtime editor of the branch's thought-provoking newsletter. She also was a prime mover in publishing the Health Writers national newsletter, always promoting the principle that "health care should be free and paid for by tax dollars."
Zeldin was precise about her politics, but she was fun and freewheeling when the discussion turned to food. She adored the slow food movement, traveling to Italy to learn more about the international drive to combat the compromises of fast-food culture by preserving unique cuisines and cultures of distinct regions around the world.
Zeldin placed great faith in the transformative power of the communal meal. In the 1960s, she did not just distribute free and healthy food to those in need, she sat down and ate with them at potlucks.
More than a quarter century ago, Zeldin began inviting the whole community to an annual dinner to celebrate the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. These events evolved into the Dr. Martin Luther King Free Community Dinners, which continue to be organized by the King Coalition.
Zeldin was honored in 2007 with a Dane County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Recognition Award, The nomination for the award observed, correctly, that, "Dr. King would have been proud to know Lea Zeldin, and would have held her as among the brightest examples of what an ordinary citizen can achieve, if we would lead a life of service, peace, and action, as he called us to do."
Lea Zeldin touched the lives of many in Madison and beyond.
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Lawrence Edward Hancock
(1961 - 2009)
February 26, 1961 - April 25, 2009
Lawrence Edward Hancock, 48, died suddenly Thursday, April 25, 2009, in Milwaukee. He was born in Evanston, IL, on Feb. 26, 1961, the third child of Earle and Dorothy Hancock. He attended elementary schools in Northbrook, IL, until the family moved to Janesville in 1970. He graduated from Parker High school in 1979. He attended UW Whitewater for one year, majoring in math, but taking many music courses, then transferred to UW Madison. He received his bachelor's degree in 1983 and continued to UW Graduate School. For several years, he was a popular Teaching Assistant in the UW math department. He was employed as a math specialist and calculus teacher in the Equal Opportunity Program at Marquette University, Milwaukee, until his death. In 1995 he married Mari Delacruz. They raised a foster child, Alexis, and adopted Randy and Isaiah.
He loved teaching and was devoted to his students. He loved music, especially jazz. He was a jazz musicologist, and for many years has had a weekly all-night jazz program on WORT radio in Madison. He performed on bass with the Barbaric Yawps and many other groups, as a singer-arranger with the vocal group Zazu, on the penny whistle with a Morris dancing group.
Lawrence is survived by his wife, Mari; stepson, Randy Flowers; foster daughter, Alexis; sons, Randy and Isaiah; mother, Dorothy Hancock; sister, Carol (Joseph) Hancock; brother, Gene (Carrie) Hancock; and nieces, Emily and Jennifer Hancock.
Obituary: Math teacher remembered as dedicated and caring
By: Marie Gentile
Posted: 4/28/09
Lawrence Hancock, a mathematics specialist in Marquette's Educational Opportunity Program, died Thursday of natural causes.
Hancock, 48, died at approximately 6 p.m. near Canal Street and Emmber Lane of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office.
Hancock had worked at Marquette for 20 years teaching math courses to first-generation college students through EOP, said program director Sande Robinson.
"He was absolutely committed to it and enjoyed all of the teaching," Robinson said. "He was always the first one here in the morning."
Robinson said Hancock's colleagues and students will greatly miss his kind and personable character.
"He had one of those personalities that you just don't meet that often," she said. "People gravitated toward him."
Raquel Roque, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, was one of Hancock's students. She said he was a helpful and patient educator who showed great dedication to his profession.
"He was always there for his students," Roque said. "He really cared."
The university released a statement about Hancock's death, stating, "We express our sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the Hancock family and all those whose lives were touched by him. Lawrence, who was fondly called 'Unk' by those who knew him best at Marquette, was an important member of the university family...The Hancock family and those who knew Lawrence are in our thoughts and prayers."
In addition to tutoring at Marquette, Hancock was also a jazz aficionado and musician, Robinson said. Under the on-air name "Uncle Larry," Hancock hosted a radio program in Madison for about 20 years.
"Larry brought a lot of things to the program," said Norman Stockwell, operations coordinator for WORT community radio. "He had a wonderful personality, a sense of humor, a dedication to the music and a vast knowledge of jazz. He will be greatly missed."
Hancock is survived by his wife Mari and sons Randy and Isaiah.
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