Claire Reed, 98, Political Activist
Claire Reed of Springs and Manhattan, who marched for civil rights and against war and nuclear proliferation, died on Saturday at her apartment in the city at the age of 98. According to her family, she had been in poor health for about a month.
Ms. Reed and her husband, Jesse Reed, ran Parsons Electric, a shop on Newtown Lane in East Hampton, for many years. Together for more than 30 years, they lived in East Hampton on Springs-Fireplace Road; before that, she and her first husband had a house for many years on Hog Creek Road. A vibrant woman, she regularly hosted dinner parties, where she was known to engage guests in voluble political debate. Mr. Reed died in 2000.
A poet who belonged to a local poetry group, Ms. Reed also wrote fiction. Several of her stories appeared in The East Hampton Star in the late 1990s, as did “Guestwords” and letters to the editor. Her memoir, “Toughing it Out, From Silver Slippers to Combat Boots,” was published by the Feminist Press in 2012.
Ms. Reed worked for Representative Bella Abzug in the ’70s, during her tenure in the House, and later became a founding member of the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, from which she recently received an award. She also was a volunteer for the Center for Constitutional Rights and a member of Women Strike for Peace and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
The writer Blanche Cook, a good friend, called Ms. Reed a “galvanizing force of nature,” adding, “I was always amazed by her ability to engage so many people across so many divides, with her magnetic gifts for poetry, politics, joy, and contemplation.”
She was born to Esadore and Jenny Ruskin Sawitsky in Manhattan on Aug. 6, 1920. The family moved to Brooklyn, where she grew up, when she was 4 or 5. She was educated in public schools and took non-degree courses at Columbia University. For many years, she worked for Corporate Art Alternatives, selling art and prints of old photographs. She was married to Lee Scheinbart from about 1947 to 1964, and settled into an East 80s apartment after their divorce.
Two sons, Edward Scheinbart of Watertown, Mass., and Jonathan Scheinbart of Alexandria, Va., survive. She also leaves one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. Her other survivors are a niece and nephew; two brothers died before her.
At her request, no service was held. Memorial contributions have been suggested for the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, c/o Hunter College, Office HE1233, 695 Park Avenue, New York 10021 or www.abzuginstitute.org.