July 16, 2006

The Progressive lost a loyal, longtime subscriber two months ago, and the peace movement and the feminist movement lost a creative voice.

Her name was Erena Rae. A graphic designer and artist, Erena Rae used her talents to denounce poverty, the death penalty, and war (and, in her last few years, the Bush Administration), and to promote disarmament, to foster compassion, and to champion feminism.

She claimed to be a feminist from “the moment my first-grade teacher announced that the word ‘he’ was a neutral pronoun,” she said in her artist’s statement at thistlewoodpress.com.

“The art that moves me most,” she said, “is art that points out unfair or unethical practices in today’s society—especially practices which have become so routine that either they go unnoticed or they are assumed to be ‘normal.’ . . . The more ‘normal’ something seems, the more insidious it can be.”

How profound that is!

And how relevant to today’s debate on gay marriage, since the highest court in New York State recently rejected same-sex marriage on the slippery grounds that “intuition” and “common sense” and “experience” demand that a child have “living models of what both a man and a woman are like.” Whatever those are.

Rae was particularly concerned about the way sexist language itself perpetuates bias. “Many of my works deal with the dichotomy inherent in words vs. deeds,” she wrote. “The so-called feminine suffix’ is a particular thorn.”

She illustrated that thorn in several of her works, including “In Her Place.”

Her boldness was not lost on those who chronicle the graphic arts. Milton Glaser’s “The Design of Dissent, Socially and Politically Driven Graphics,” included three of her works, the Herald Journal of Minnesota noted in its obituary.

“She was one of the most engaged and engaging people who ever lived,” said her son, Bruce Friedrich, at her memorial service on May 28. “And she has left some wonderful artwork behind—an eternal gift to the world.”

Our condolences to Bruce Friedrich, to Erena Rae’s husband, Gus Friedrich, and to all who cherish her memory.