Eric Mark Goldscheider

1957 - 2022

Eric Mark Goldscheider

Amherst, MA — Eric Mark Goldscheider passed away on May 9, 2022 in his Amherst, MA home; he was 65 years old, but with experiences enough for several lifetimes. Growing up in New York City in the 1960s, Eric spent summers with his grandmother in Vienna, where he picked up the German language, as well as a fascination with family history and a love of travel. After high school, he hitch-hiked across America, studied abroad in Kenya and worked with a touring theater company in Santa Fe. With his wife and young son, Eric later returned to East Africa for several years as the co-Academic Director for the School of International Training. Everywhere he went, Eric created lifelong relationships. He was a dedicated father, loyal to his family and eager to learn about the lives of others.

Eric's natural curiosity and empathy would fuel a career in journalism, leading to stints with the Springfield Republican, Greenfield Recorder and Hampshire Gazette; bylines in the New York Times and Boston Globe; and the chance to interview heroes like Willy Nelson and Joan Baez. For almost a decade, Eric documented the story of Benjamin LaGuer – an incarcerated man working to prove his own innocence – work that is now archived at the University of Massachusetts. He also contributed to numerous alumni magazines and mounted an ambitious project to translate the memoir of his beloved grandmother.

Along the way, Eric found many simple joys in life: a swim across Puffers Pond, a bike ride with his granddaughter Kaya, a chance encounter with a stranger. His memory will be held and cherished by many, among them his children Joshua and Maisha Friedlander, his brother Tom Goldscheider and wife Suzanne, his mother Marianne Goldscheider, along with two nephews, two grandchildren and a vast community of friends around the world. A public memorial will be held on September 17th 2022, 1-3pm at Groff Park in Amherst.