Longtime Berkeley resident, bookstore owner and health activist Pat Cody, age 87, passed away on Sep. 30. She was born in 1923, the fourth of what would be ten children borne to Rosalia and Jack Herbert (eight would survive). Her father worked for the railroad as a station agent, so the family scraped by through the depression. She enrolled at Willimantic Teachers’ College around 1940, and also worked at the Electric Boat Company helping to build submarines for the war effort. She became more politically aware, and eventually went to New York City, enrolling at Columbia University, where she got her Masters degree in economics. And there, following the war, she met a dashing West Virginian veteran, who shared her interest in politics. Their activism earned them a knock on the door from the FBI, so rather than “name names,” they packed up and drove to Mexico City. Fred enrolled in the Universidad de Mexico, and the two of them were part of a lively ex-patriot community. They attended social gatherings at the home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and met luminaries like Pablo Neruda, who declared that Pat’s lemon meringue pie was the best he ever had!
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