Stephen D. Goldstein

1945 - 2018

Stephen David Goldstein, 73, of Ipswich, Massachusetts, died on November 10, 2018, after a brief stay at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, Massachusetts. He was born on May 10, 1945, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Issac S. Goldstein and Dorothy (Resnick) Goldstein. He was graduated from Brookline High School, and earned a BS in Business Administration and an MFA in Graphic Design, both from Boston University. Stephen's passion for social justice and activism began early in his life, and while in college he participated in anti-war protests, marches in Washington, and voter registration drives, often under the tutelage of the legendary B.U. professor Howard Zinn. He played an instrumental part in the sanctuary movement and occupation of BU's Marsh Chapel in 1968. After college, he worked in editorial and advertising design for several Boston-area publications, including City Limits, The Boston Phoenix, and Sail Magazine. He was Design Director and a member of the founding creative team at The Cambridge Phoenix, Boston's first successful alternative weekly newspaper. Later he founded his own graphic design firm, Good Graphics Group, whose clients included the Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, the Government of Jamaica, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2001, wishing to share his enthusiasm and expertise with young designers, Stephen started teaching graphic design at the college level, first as a teaching associate at Boston University, then at the New England Institute of Art, Salem State College, and starting in 2004 at Fitchburg State University, where he was a full-time tenured Professor in the Communications Media department at the time of his death. Stephen's most recent area of professional interest was modern Chinese graphic design. He travelled to China three times in recent years where he taught graduate seminars and interviewed dozens of Chinese graphic designers in preparation for a planned book on the subject. Among his many achievements at FSU was the initiation of the Communications Media Department lecture series, which brought distinguished guest lecturers in graphic design, photography, film, video, and digital media to the campus. Some of his most recent guests were the internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Xu Bing and the seminal American photographer Marie Cosindas. He was also an avid and accomplished photographer, and had exhibited at the Photographic Resource Center in Boston, among other places. Stephen was predeceased by his parents. He is survived by his wife and companion of 20 years, Diane S. Bainton of Ipswich, Massachusetts; his brother, Andrew P. Goldstein of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; his niece and nephew, Mari G. Goldstein and Ethan I. Goldstein, both of Newton, Massachusetts; his parents-in-law, Ernest L. and Barbara D. Bainton of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire; his sister-in-law, Cynthia L. Bainton of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; and many cousins. He was especially appreciative of the exposure to the arts and artistic life that he received early in his life from his cousin Leonard Bernstein and the Bernstein family. A memorial service will take place in the spring of 2019, time and place to be announced. There are plans to establish a scholarship fund in his memory for Fitchburg State University graphic design students, details to be forthcoming. Donations in his memory can also be made to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168, or www.dana-farber.org. Burial will be in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, in the spring.