Robert Lee Goodman

Robert “Bob” Lee Goodman passed away on September 27, 2024 in San Rafael, CA. He is survived by two sons, Joseph Earl Goodman and Michael Teller Goodman; their spouses April Evelyn Chan and Allison Camille Harvey; and three grandchildren, Haven Joseph Goodman, Ella Camille Goodman; and Pearce Metcalf Goodman.

Bob was born in the segregated town of Kennett, Missouri on August 10, 1940. He was the valedictorian of the Kennett High School class of 1958. He attended Southwest Baptist College, Bolivar, MO; the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he studied journalism and received an M.A. in history; and Harvard University. In 1984, he earned a B.S. in nutrition at Georgia State University, Atlanta.

A turning point in his life occurred in 1960 when four African American students sat down at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, a tactic which quickly spread to other cities, sparking the sit-in movement. He later said he was “electrified” by these events; and wanted to be part of that movement. After he entered the University of Missouri in the fall, he joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which carried out similar sit-ins at local segregated businesses. This was the beginning of a life of frequent social justice and anti-war activism.

He dropped out of a Ph.D. program at Harvard in 1966, after he was no longer draft-eligible, to become a history instructor at Morehouse College in Atlanta. In 1968 he left that position to join the fledgling Atlanta progressive “underground” newspaper The Great Speckled Bird as a writer and editor for several years. The Bird championed and took part in the civil rights, anti-war, feminist and other movements, as well as the counterculture of the 1960s and early ‘70s.

Bob was an anti-war activist during the U.S. wars on Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan and others. In 1970 he volunteered with the Venceremos Brigade to work in the citrus fields of Cuba to show solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. He was active in the U.S.-China People's Friendship Association, which organized trips of Americans to China before the two nations had diplomatic relations, and visited China on one of its trips in 1977.

More recently, he was active in the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, and the campaign for Medicare for All (single-payer). He was arrested twice in direct actions for Medicaid expansion in Georgia.

Bob enjoyed rearing his sons, whom he called his “greatest achievements.” He was a loving and supporting father. He enjoyed watching his grandchildren grow, group singing, hiking, Scrabble, a good joke, the reliable predictability of his Social Security checks, and East Lake Commons. His work life included, at various times, journalism, factory worker, nutritionist and legal secretary.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to WRFG radio at https://wrfg.org/ or 1083 Austin Avenue NE, Atlanta 30307. Please indicate your donation is made in honor of Bob Goodman.