9
OBITUARIES
Arlene Early-Terry
Cleveland AIDS activist Arlene EarlyTerry departed this life July 29, 1995 at the Hospice of the Western Reserve, surrounded by family and friends. She had been a permanent resident at the Hospice since early May.
Arlene Early was born in Cleveland on January 10, 1955. She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School at 16 and received a full scholarship to the Cleveland Institute of Art. She later withdrew from art school and enrolled at Cleveland State University, finding her niche in the Society for AfroAmerican Unity, the Vindicator (an African American campus newspaper) and student government. She graduated with a double major in social work and psychology, with a minor in political science.
During this time, she became involved in a community-based organization called Prisoner's Family Services, which provided support and assistance to families of those incarcerated. "Looking back," Early-Terry had said, "I think this is where my world view of African people developed and the richest experiences of my life occurred." She went on to become an active member of a task force to revise the Cuyahoga County bail bond system, as well as working with several penal institutions organizing an art exchange between Case Western Reserve University and some of the prisons. After realizing the lack of rehabilitation in the criminal justice system, Early-Terry decided to abandon psychiatric social work and enter the business
world. She landed a position as a buyer with Kaiser Permanente.
In 1984, Arlene married Kevin Terry and like any couple, they planned their life together well into the future. Things began to
change in 1987, when Kevin's health declined dramatically. He was diagnosed with AIDS, and shortly thereafter, Arlene tested HIV positive. Kevin Terry died on November 26, 1988.
Early-Terry's activism began after her husband's death. She began by conducting in-service meetings and initiating an HIV policy in her workplace. With her twin sister Marlene, she made Kevin a panel for the AIDS quilt sponsored by the Names Project and attended its 1989 display in Washington, D.C. As a member of the media committee, she was interviewed, appeared at press conferences and on videos, and attended meetings-a hectic schedule that took its toll on her health. Shortly after returning home, she was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with full blown AIDS.
Through her faith in God and with the support of her mother, sister, and friends, Arlene battled back and continued to speak publicly about AIDS. Her speaking engagements took her all over the country. Her good friend David Newmarker said, "For every one day that she would speak, she would have to spend two days in bed recovering." But she never quit. She worked with Dr. Victoria Cargill, founder of Stopping AIDS is My Mission and was on the board of directors of that organization until her death. She was also appointed to the Citizens Committee on AIDS/HIV in Cleveland.
In a speech to the National Urban League, Early-Terry had said, "It is important that there are many issues connected with the spread of HIV in the African American community that are intricately linked. This has brought the face of AIDS closer to us. It is time to wake up and know the truth-all people world wide are affected by this epidemic."
Arlene is survived by her mother, Nellie Early; her twin sister, Marlene Barnett; a nephew, James Robinson; a niece, Arlena Barnett, and a host of other relatives and friends, among them David Newmarker, Deborah Donbraye and Vivian Balester.
Robert Eichberg
Tesuque, N.M-Robert H. Eichberg, a psychologist who tried to bridge the gap between gay and non-gay segments of society, has died of complications of AIDS.
Eichberg was 50 when he died August 11 at his home in Tesuque.
Eichberg's book, Coming Out: an Act of Love, has become required reading for friends and family of gays and lesbians, said Lynn Shepodd of Santa Fe, president of the Santa Fe Lesbian, Gay and Bi Pride Committee.
"If you care to have any relationship with gay people, his book is essential," Shepodd said. "It accurately describes the process that gay and lesbian people go through in their coming out.
Eichberg also was a co-founder of National Coming Out Day.
"His whole life's work was about bridging the gap between gay and non-gay communities, allowing people to discover who they are, and really encouraging them to go out and do something with that knowledge," Shepodd said.
Obituaries
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Honey Ward of Santa Fe, a friend and colleague, said Eichberg helped "thousands of people-people who had literally lived lives of quiet desperation, people who thought their lives were not going to get any better, people who thought they would always be second-class citizens."
In a 1993 interview, Eichberg said "Most people think they don't know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes."
Eichberg was born in Brooklyn in 1945 and lived most of his life in Los Angeles.
His activism began more than two decades ago with the founding of a political action committee for gay, lesbian and women's rights in Los Angeles.
In 1978, he founded The Experience, a community-based workshop that inspired people to reveal their homosexuality to family and friends, Ward said.
Eichberg moved to Santa Fe in 1988-the same year he co-founded National Coming Out Day with Jean O'Leary of Los Angeles, Ward said. National Coming Out Day is observed annually on October 11, the anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
Eichberg is survived by his partner, Jon Landstrom of Santa Fe; his mother, Shirley Greenes; his father, Norman Eichberg; and brothers Peter Eichberg and Steven Eichberg, all of the Los Angeles area.
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