Ella E. Mirkin

As a baby, Ella was adopted by her Israeli immigrant parents and grew up in Tennessee. She was their only child. She traveled to Israel several times to visit with relatives there. Her religious upbringing was Orthodox Jewish. Her favorite subjects in high school were English and history. She also learned horseback riding at this time. She has many fond memories of summer camp. Her mother died before Ella finished high school.

Ella went to college in Iowa where she studied English literature. She lived in a dorm and enjoyed many friendships there. She continued with her sport of horseback riding. After college, Ella became estranged from her father and has never seen him since.

Ella moved to Buffalo and married for the first time. She completed graduate work in Women’s Studies there. At this time, Ella was a political activist and radical. She was a volunteer paralegal for the National Jury Project. She has worked at both the Attica Defense Trials in New York State and at Wounded Knee for the American Indian Movement in South Dakota.

Ella divorced her first husband and moved to Boston. At this time, she followed the guru Osho making many dear friends at this time. This led to travels to Oregon and India among other experiences.

Ella married for the second time in Boston. She and her husband lived in several of Boston’s neighborhoods over the years. Ella’s career was as a real estate title examiner in both the Suffolk and Middlesex courthouses in Boston and Cambridge. She was highly respected for the quality of her work by all of her colleagues and employers. Through this work, Ella came to love Boston, its neighborhoods, and its history. She enjoyed sailing on Boston Harbor with friends.

Ella has always loved reading. She has attended many science fiction conventions as a fan and was on the committee of Readercon for quite some time. She made many dear friends through this pastime.

Ella was hospitalized for severe depression when she was in her forties. She continued as an outpatient where she tried medication and therapy. She and her second husband divorced at this time.

It was at this point that Ella and I met and shortly thereafter married. She seduced me with poetry and crossword puzzles. I seduced her by proving the Pythagorean Theorem. Our marriage lasted 18 years.

Ella maintained her political interests by joining the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She has enjoyed singing with the Raging Grannies. She has also worked as a volunteer at the Women’s Lunch Place in Boston.

We traveled to Pittsburgh many times as that was the home of my parents. Ella felt accepted by my family and became especially close with my mother. She came to appreciate and love Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods. The long drive there and back became a familiar pleasure for us.

Ella’s greatest pleasure was reading. She has read widely in fantasy, science fiction, classic literature, historical romance, mystery, poetry, religion, current events, and history.

She dearly loved our dog Sophie and has always had a place in her heart for the many cats that have been her companions over the years.

Ella’s favorite poem was

the song of mehitabel

by Don Marquis

from which I quote:

my youth i shall never forget

but there s nothing i really regret

wotthehell wotthehell

there s a dance in the old dame yet

toujours gai toujours gai