In Our Care

Gerald Goldman

July 18, 1944 - July 20, 2025

With profound sadness, the family of Gerald (“Jerry”) Goldman announces his passing at age 81 on July 20, 2025, in San Rafael, CA. Jerry and Greer, his wife of 58 years, moved California to be near their family after living in Washington, DC for more than 50 years. He is survived by Greer, Jonathan Goldman and his wife Sarah Rettinger of Los Angeles, David Goldman and his wife, Sarah Wescott of San Rafael, and four grandchildren, Esther, Mira, Zora, and Asa. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School (where he met Greer), Jerry clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, was an Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, and a litigator in private practice specializing in complex tax issues. In addition to his work, Jerry was a passionate creative writer, sculpturer, bicycler and hiker. After retiring, Jerry was a volunteer attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council where he was part of the legal team defending EPA climate regulations from industry challenges in the federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court. To honor Jerry’s passionate advocacy for protecting the environment, contributions in his memory may be made to the Natural Resources Defense Council to support its climate and clean energy work https://nrcdc.org/, to Congregation Rodef Sholom, San Rafael, CA, or to a charity of your choice. The funeral was held at Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley, CA on July 24.

Judith Ann Serin

5/16/1949—4/19/2025

The family and friends of writer and professor Judith Serin are sad to report that Judith died April 19, 2025, of pancreatic cancer. She leaves behind many who loved her, were inspired by her, and felt close to her in their lives.
Judith Ann Serin was born May 16, 1949, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to Bernice and Bernard Serin—Bernice a biologist at Rutgers University, and Bernard a physics professor there.
She grew up in Piscataway Township, near the Rutgers campus, and attended Rutgers Preparatory School. Judith had many sweet memories of summers spent with family at their retreat in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, on the boundary between that state’s Lakes Region and the White Mountains.
Judith took her bachelor’s degree from Bennington College in Vermont, moved to the Bay Area, and received her master’s degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University. One of the jobs she took while attending S.F. State was modeling, both for university art classes and for Bay Area Figurative painters, including Joan Brown and Elmer Bischoff.
In 1986 Judith married Herbert Yeung Yee, a MUNI inspector and artist. Herbert died of cancer in 2020.
Judith Serin was a widely respected poet and prose writer. For over fifty years she was a member of “The Group”—writers meeting monthly whose members included Ellery Akers, Gerald Fleming, and the late Bill Edmondson and Peter Kunz. Her collection of poetry Hiding in the World was published by Diane de Prima’s Eidolon Editions. Her Days Without (Sky): a Poem Tarot, seventy-eight prose poems in the form of a tarot deck with illustrations and book art design by Nikki Thompson, was published by Deconstructed Artichoke Press. Her short story collection Gravity was published in 2022 by The Black Springs Press Group in England, and a new collection, Family Stories, is just out (also from Black Springs) and can now be ordered. Her work is irreverent, funny, deeply observant and intelligent, and fiercely feminist. Over the decades her poems and stories were published widely in magazines and anthologies.
Judith taught literature and writing at the California College for the Arts beginning in 1980, retiring only recently. As a professor she was known for her wide knowledge, her insights into literature, and, most importantly, her kindness and support of students. Years later she was still in touch with many students who revered her and who said she changed their lives.
Judith’s younger sister Joan Alice Serin died in 2018, a great sadness, and in family she leaves behind her beloved brother-in-law Nick Christ, her niece Sara Rose Serin-Christ, her nephew Joel Bernard Serin-Christ and his wife Bianca Espinosa, her grandnephews Santiago Ibarra Dias and Joaquin Serin-Christ, and her grandniece Esme Serin-Christ.
The family would like to thank in particular those who helped her and supported her in life and in her final months: Charmion Forrester, Sue Kaplan, Danita Kulp, Amy Meyer, Katia Noyes, Anna Thompson, Emma Thompson, Nikki Thompson, Frances Doughty, Stacy Osterhaus, Heidi Kasa, Jim Hughes, Stacy McClain, Gemma O’Keefe, Jackie Dennison, Chris Rockwell, Calvin Tsao, Betsy Davids, John Lasky, Jasmin, Christian Gott, Lisa Schultheis Gott, Kay and Gay Yee, her dearest lifelong friend the poet Cathy Colman, Hospice caregivers Amalia and Susan, and so many more—apologies if we missed you, but you were in Judith’s heart; you know that.
Judith Serin will be remembered of course for her deep intelligence and her writing, but also for much more. She was a good friend. She listened. She was reliable. She remembered. She loved her husband Herbert and missed him terribly after he died. She recognized writing talent in her students, no matter how nascent that talent might have been. She had a great sense of humor and could tell a really good joke. She was a terrific grammarian, and would have loved to have proofread this obit. (A few things intentionally planted in here, Judith!) She loved her garden in its florid wildness, loved her cats JoJo, Noah, and Star with an unmatched zeal. Though she neither drank nor used drugs, she loved good chocolate. She loved dance. She loved the Giants, and would often attend games with her dear pal the writer Zack Rogow. She was keen on jazz—women jazz singers in particular—especially Sarah Vaughan. A many-decade San Franciscan, she loved exploring the City’s hills on foot with friends.
She loved poetry.
Judith Serin was buried April 29 in the Gan Yarok Reform section of Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley, California, Plot 184. Those who would want to donate in her memory might consider the nonprofit Poetry Flash, 1450 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710, and those who might want to drop a note to the family can do so at [email protected].
Goodbye, Judith, the poet you were, the person you were. If you’re still hovering somewhere near, please know that your family and friends here miss you and will continue to miss you.