I had contact with Randy many times over the course of the Freeze Campaign, being one of the directors of a state campaign, and an organizer of one of the most successful local referendum in the country. When Ms. Forsberg and I first had contact, it was the classical rough contact of leadership from think-tanks meeting leadership from local organizing. We bristled with each other’s lack of insight into what ‘works,’ with her arguing about what works in Congress, and my arguing about what works at the doorway and dinner tables of American communities. We were polite combatants for the direction of strategic initiatives.

When she later discovered she had cancer, I found her at a national meeting, and shared with her my own mother’s death of breast cancer, and further shared my offer of support and empathy for a road I knew as an observer. From that moment, our relationship changed from political activists, to one of friends and real people dealing with the real issues of life before governing elites decide who will be fodder today. Though ’strategy’ was still important, it lost much of its separative power amongst us, as we focused on Randy, the person, rather than a globe at risk.

When I saw announcement of her death on This Week, on ABC, I sat stunned. We hadn’t talked in long time, and I didn’t know she was in battle again. Thanks for the review of her work above. It is a strong review of her ‘macro’ interests. I am so deeply pleased I was able to know Randy at the ‘micro’ level as well. She was a great peace warrior.

I think, if may be allowed a quibble, that Reagan was the one pushing for total nuclear disarmament and Gorbachev was the one surprised but willing to go along.

Which perhaps gives the Freeze even greater importance. It is possible that Reagan felt his disarmament initiatives would get political support because Dr. Forsberg had shown him how broad and deep that support was.