Everybody should have a friend who brings you pie.
Stuart Steinhardt was that friend, to many of us. He loved to bake, and he was wise enough not to consume his entire output – so he SHARED.
Among the beneficiaries of his sweet largesse were the hosts of Stu’s favorite music programs on KPFA, Berkeley’s pioneering listener-sponsored free speech radio station. He brought pies to many of us on countless occasions.
In addition to copious carbs, Stuart also gave generously to KPFA in both time and cash. I co-host a 16-hour Grateful Dead fund-raiser every winter, and Stu was a godsend on that day, year after year. He’d hang out for all or most of the day and night, helping out by answering phones, picking up food, etc. And he invariably wrote a check before leaving the building.
A group of us who were the beneficiaries of Stu’s kindness have come up with a plan to honor his memory at the station: we’d like to raise $10,000 by February 15, the day of the 2020 KPFA Grateful Dead marathon. KPFA has agreed to put up a plaque over the door of the phone room, honoring our dear friend’s lifetime of support.
To that end, we’d like to ask you to contribute. You can make a check payable to KPFA and send it to me –
David Gans
484 Lake Park Ave #102
Oakland CA 94610-2730
Or you can contribute via PayPal to david@trufun.com – make sure you mark it FRIENDS AND FAMILY so we don’t have to pay a fee – and include a note stating that it is a contribution to Stuart’s memorial fund.
We’re gonna “pay it forward” and give KPFA several years’ worth of the donations that Stu is no longer able to make. Nothing will replace the hours he gave to the station, nor the PIE he so generously baked for our music jocks. But this plaque will keep his memory alive at the station forever.
NOTE FROM SANDY SONNENFELT:
Stuart and I had a love of radio in common. He was a fervent supporter of public radio and especially of KPFA. I am deeply moved that a group of his favorite volunteer music jocks have arranged to name the phone room after him.
KPFA depends on our donations to survive as one of the very few truly independent listener- supported radio stations. In honor of Stuart, I hope you will join us in donating to the station. No amount is too small. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
P.S. Stuart is wearing KPFA Marathon t-shirts in both of these photos!
Happy to help the cause! Will be sending you a Paypal payment today. Here’s to Stu, pie, public radio and the life-generating properties of a good groove.
Beautiful, and perfectly appropriate for the gratefully radio-active! May you stay forever on-air, keeping the Mother rolling ~ Backofbeyondananda, KZMU, Moab, Utah. (check’s in the mail…)