WRL Homepage • WRL Programs • WRL Literature • WRL Actions • WRL Employment • About WRL
|
Homepages: |
|
|
Judith Pasternak (Ex-)Professional Pacifist By Ellen Davidson
What we’ll miss the most about her, perhaps, is the sheer enthusiasm she brought to her work. She was simply thrilled to be working at WRL and would often brag delightedly about being a “professional pacifist.” Judith came to the League with years of journalism experience: In addition to writing for progressive publications such as New Directions for Women and On Our Backs, she had been head of women’s programming at WBAI and managing editor of The Guardian radical newsweekly. Her many contacts provided a wide pool of new reporters for the magazine. Her elegant writing style and firm grounding both in the English language and in radical politics landed her the thankless task of going over just about every written document that came out of the national office during her decade there—from press releases and position statements to flyers and information packets. She was also a veteran organizer, having been particularly active in the anti-Vietnam War, women’s, and lesbian and gay movements. This experience informed her judgment in the sometimes delicate negotiations involved in representing the league in coalitions and in organizing actions such as A Day Without the Pentagon in Washington, DC, in October 1998. Judith was a tremendous asset when it came to the WRL’s internal organizational development. She was always an active participant in National Committee meetings, for example, writing and organizing support for a proposal reaffirming and strengthening WRL’s commitment to antiracism. She even stepped in for six months to work full-time as coordinator of the national office. Matt Meyer, who serves as the Publications Committee representative to the Administrative Coordinating Committee, says of Judith, “Some people know how to work with writers and artists, some are good organizers and have a sense of strategy and discipline, and some people—by their sense of humor or love of people—are good at building community. Part of the pleasure of working with Judith has been that she is one of the few with aspects of all of these skills, thereby leaving the organization’s staff and structure stronger than when she first joined us.” “Across some 60 issues of the magazine, Judith managed to cover the breadth of nonviolent organizing in the United States and around the world. She shaped a magazine that reflected the depth of WRL’s concerns and her own,” said John M. Miller, WRL’s treasurer, who worked closely with Judith as the magazine’s layout artist. Fortunately for us, Judith plans to continue working closely with the league, on both the Fundraising and Publications Committees. These days, she says wistfully, “I guess I’m not a professional pacifist anymore.” But then she brightens when she realizes she’s still an amateur one. Ellen Davidson is the co-editor, with Gene Glickman, of Peace-Loving Nations: Music of Peace and Resistance, the 2006 WRL Peace Calendar. She is on the Publications and Fundraising Committees. |
WRL Homepage • WRL Programs • WRL Literature • WRL Actions • WRL Employment • About WRL
or
the past ten years, the War Resisters League (WRL) national office has
been graced with a talented editor, experienced activist, and congenial
coworker in Judith Pasternak. Judith’s announcement of her retirement
as editor of the Nonviolent Activist this past June evoked great dismay
on the staff and a collective sigh of regret from the Publications Committee.