Judith Strasser, 1944-2009

Judith Strasser, Madison, born September 30, 1944 in New York City to Alexander Strasser and Maxine Hochberg Strasser, died at home in Madison on January 29, surrounded by family. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. She received her BA in history from Reed College, Portland, Oregon in 1966 and her masters in communications research from Stanford University in 1972. She married Steve Ela in September, 1972 and they traveled the United States in a van for over a year before settling in Davis, California. Their son Jed Ela was born in California in 1975 and turned one as they crossed the Rockies to their new home in Madison. Their second son Nate was born in Madison in 1978. Judith and Steve were divorced in 1989.

Judith was instrumental in the creation of the Madison Children’s Museum, inspired by the volunteer work of her mother-in-law Janet Ela for the old Madison Art Center, now the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Judith raised the money necessary to create the Children’s Museum’s first home on South Bedford Street and to hire the museum’s first permanent staff member. Judith has also contributed her time to WORT, the Wisconsin Public Radio Association, Madison Literacy Council, and the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, among other organizations. She was employed as a grant writer and grants administrator by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, she produced an award-winning documentary on women judges in Wisconsin, and for the next five years worked as an independent scriptwriter and producer for Wisconsin Public Radio. In 1990, she was hired as a producer and on-air interviewer for “To the Best of Our Knowledge,” a nationally syndicated weekly public radio program. She retired in 1999 to pursue a career as a writer. Her books include two prose volumes, Black Eye: Escaping a Marriage, Writing a Life and Facing Fear: Meditations on Cancer and Politics, Courage and Hope. She has also written two collections of poetry, Sand Island Succession: Poems of the Apostles, and The Reason/Unreason Project, which won the Lewis-Clark Expedition Award. She is co-editor with Robin Chapman of On Retirement: 75 Poems.

Judith was successfully treated for Hodgkin’s Disease from 1981 through 1982 with chemotherapy and radiation. In February, 2005, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer, probably a consequence of the earlier radiation treatment, which had enabled her to raise her sons from the ages of 3 and 6 to their adulthood -- an easy trade-off, Judith always said.

Judith’s survivors include her sons, Jed Ela of Los Angeles (and his fiancée Nazgol Ghandnoosh) and Nate Ela of Bogotá, Colombia (and his partner, Meghan Morris); her sisters Susan Strasser of Takoma Park, Maryland (and her husband Bob Guldin), Paula Strasser of Fallbrook, California and Erica Ryon of Saint Louis (and her husband Roger Ryon); and her niece Maxine Ryon. She will be missed also by her many friends: poets, cyclists, dragon boat paddlers, members of Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, the Walrus Club, and partners in her numerous other activities.

A memorial service will be held at the First Unitarian Society, Madison, on February 14, at 1:00. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to HospiceCare, 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison 53711.