On Wednesday April 1, 1981, Freda Salzman, a long time and very active member of Science for the People died. She was 53 years old and had struggled with breast cancer for the past two years. Freda was a theoretical physicist and a teacher, whose work in Science for the People took her some distance from general relativity and black holes which she studied in her academic research at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She was a loving teacher and was married for 33 years to her husband George, also a physicist, and had two grown daughters, Amy and Erica. We in the Boston Chapter of Science for the People will miss her dearly, for she was a kind and gentle soul, as well as one of the most stalwartly committed and dedicated members of the organization.

      Freda was one of the very early foremothers of Science for the People, having begun her involvement back in 1971, and her contributions to and impact on the organization and its members has been powerful. She was most actively involved in the long reorganization struggles of 1974-1976 and in the continuing struggles against sexism both inside and outside of the organization. She also contributed greatly via her writings and public lectures on sociobiology and sexism.

      Freda was instrumental in starting the first women's group in Science for the People back in the days, just a few years ago, when raising women's issues was thought by many to be politically incorrect. She was among the first to introduce the topic of sexism as an important issue within Science for the People and to persist until this subject became O.K. to speak of, to think about, and to work on in the organization. Freda had a tenacious adherence to her beliefs and she did not give up when she believed that she was right. She hung in there. Indeed she persisted when many others dropped out. Some members say that it was because of her steadfast persistence that the Sociobiology Study Group was transformed from a group asking the question, "What is sexism"? to one whose primary focus is now on this very issue.

      Freda was very dedicated to her work in Science for the People. She was one of those few persons who could always be depended on to "be there" and to give of her time, her energy and herself. In the old days (a mere 10 years ago) she would have been described as a "bag holder", i.e. one of those reliables, who could always be counted on to take up the bag of unwanted tasks that needed to be done and to do them. We will all miss this gentle foremother and role model and we also remember and rejoice in the good knowledge, the caring and the sense of humanity she gave to us and to Science for the People.