In Memory of Max Anderson

We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Max recently passed away. We remain inspired by his words and his life and miss him so much. While still a City Councilmember, in January of 2015, Max called for the creation of Friends of Adeline at a City of Berkeley community planning meeting about the Adeline Corridor, when the community’s interests were not being prioritized or respected. He was a founding member and leader of FOA.

Noted Berkeley civil rights leader Max Anderson died at his home on July 5 with his wife, Linda, by his side, a beloved partner of 50 years in life and political activism. Max’s commitment to social justice in service to community betterment was unwavering across his long and many-faceted career. As the Berkeley City Council Representative for District 3 (2004-2016), which includes the historic Lorin District—home to many Black families who came to Berkeley during the Great Migration in the years between the two world wars—Max led progressive agendas. On the Council, he continued the extraordinary work for change and equity that he had performed on Berkeley’s Planning Commission (1989-1997) and as Commissioner and Chair of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board (1996-2004).

Born in Decatur, Illinois, on Dec. 15, 1944, the second of four children, Max enlisted as a Marine at the age of 18 and was sent to Vietnam. There he developed a sharp awareness of the brutality and exploitation of the Vietnamese people against the backdrop of the civil rights movement at home. This led to his becoming an eloquent advocate for racial justice for communities impacted by the economic inequality embedded in American capitalism. His commitment to civil and economic justice across racial, ethnic, gender, and all categories of disenfranchisement was grounded in a deeply informed humanism and economic analysis.

Max’s inclusive values are reflected in his many accomplishments in political service, including his role in raising the minimum wage in Berkeley, expansion of Berkeley public health services, the Berkeley “right to know” ordinance (regarding potential cell phone radiation exposure), and enhanced green building standards, among other progressive victories. He inspired the founding of Friends of Adeline, a neighborhood coalition that strives to make South Berkeley an inclusive, just community for all who live and work there. He saw justice struggles as not only local but international in scope, using his eloquence to educate constituents about national and world issues.

Max began his career as a sanitation worker and proud union member in Philadelphia. He earned a degree in Respiratory Therapy at Community College of Philadelphia and then worked at Medical College of Pennsylvania, where he continued union activism representing hospital and healthcare employees. That led to a full-time organizing position with Local 1199C, the healthcare workers’ union. During his time as an organizer, he earned his RN and bachelor’s degree in Nursing (BSN) at Thomas Jefferson University through training funds provided by the union. His tireless efforts as an advocate for social justice included a leading role in Philadelphia’s movement to dismantle apartheid in South Africa.

Among his wide array of interests, Max was an avid whitewater rafter and traveled the East Coast rafting from Maine to the Carolinas. He helped to organize Philadelphia’s first rafting coop, which was dedicated to “desegregating the rivers,” offering outdoor thrills to urban youth, recounts Steve Rasmussen, an old
friend from Max’s Philadelphia years.

Max and Linda moved to Berkeley in 1985, and both assumed important roles in Berkeley’s progressive communities as organizers, co-founding the Alcatraz Avenue Neighborhood Association, among other community projects, while their daughter, Marisha, attended Berkeley High. Max entered the dual master’s program in City Planning and Public Health at Cal in 1990, continuing a pattern of lifelong learning.

Kriss Worthington, a long-serving Berkeley City Councilmember, remembers Max as “the most predictably progressive and powerful voice for poor people, environmental justice, people of color, and countless other progressive issues on the Berkeley City Council. Max always focused on moral principles rather than on playing politics. He had such great oratorical skills and moral vision that he sometimes made other Councilmembers feel guilty through his advocacy, to the extent that they would actually change their vote! He always reminded us that we were ‘here for the people.'”

Max was a polymath, Renaissance man, and bon vivant of extraordinary scope who loved the outdoors, travel, world history, and fine food and wine in good company. He inspired a deep appreciation of these things in his daughter, his nephews, his siblings, his friends. He expanded their lived experiences by sharing his own enthusiastic pursuits and interests generously with them. His nephew Sam Risby commented, “My summer vacations spent with Uncle Max opened me up to life possibilities that I had not considered, and I loved it.”

“To know Max, to share food, drink, conversation, and simply to be in his presence, is to grow in wisdom, spirit, and humanity. We and the world are better for him,” adds longtime friends and fellow traveler Marc Janowitz.

A memorial for Max Anderson will be held at:
The South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis Street, on August 11, 2024 from 1PM-4PM.

In lieu of flowers, Max’s wife, Linda, has asked for donations to FOA in Max’s memory. A check written out to Friends of Adeline can be sent to FOA c/o Olivia deBree, 1622 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703. Or you can donate to FOA in Max’s memory using the Venmo QR code below (@Olivia-deBree, 8443 are the last 4 phone digits). Please label the donation “Max Anderson.”