Ernest Sheldon "Ernie" Lieberman

Our beloved Ernest (Ernie) Sheldon Lieberman, passed away on August 27, 2023, at age 93. He will be remembered for his love of family, as an avid tennis player, for his devotion to the Golden State Warriors and his appreciation of a good cappuccino, but most of all for the songs he wrote and sang. His songs championed racial equality, peace, love, and the rights of working people to dignity and a good life. "Life is for the living, and the living cannot wait."Born Jan. 24, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, Ernie was the second child of Max and Lillian Fein Lieberman, descendants of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Ernie and his older brother Dan worked from a young age. Their father Max died when Ernie was 10, but he carried on his father's commitment to making life better for working people. His hero was Woody Guthrie, whom Ernie and his friends idolized and followed around New York City. Ernie graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School and attended Brooklyn College. When, as a teenager, he had to choose between his love for playing baseball and folk music, music won out. The world of folk musicians was his community, a community that believed in the power of song to make the world more just and peaceful. Ernie began performing at age 13, at hootenannies held in Pete Seeger's basement in Greenwich Village, among other venues. He attended Camp Wo-Chi-Ca (Workers' Children's Camp), which had a big influence on his career; he later talked about Paul Robeson's visit to camp as a highlight as well as the importance of the choral director Naomi Bassuk. Irwin Silber was one of his counselors and they traveled in the same circles, active in the American Folksay group and in the publication of Sing Out! Magazine, which Ernie edited in its early days. As a member of People's Songs and People's Artists, in the 1940s and 1950s Ernie sang for unions, civil rights groups and the peace movement, and continued into the 1980s to sing for progressive movements and causes. He sang for Henry Wallace's 1948 campaign for president on the Progressive party ticket, including at its founding convention in Philadelphia. He also traveled in the South for the Civil Rights Congress, singing in Black churches in support of the Black freedom movement. His early recordings included the civil rights song "I'm On My Way," a song celebrating the power of workers, "Song of My Hands" and a peace anthem, "Spring Song." In 1951, Ernie married Ann Willner, who came from a progressive family that migrated from New York to California. Their 71+ year romance was the envy of family and friends. Ann and Ernie moved back and forth between New York and California in the 1950s, following his career. He put out two solo albums in the 1950s, hopeful despite the decimation of the Left by the red scare: Goodbye, Mr. War, a collection of peace songs, and The Big Men, Bold and Bad with songs about American folk heroes such as John Henry and Paul Bunyan. In the late 1950s, using the stage name Ernie Sheldon, he toured and recorded with the Gateway Singers, the first interracial folk group to meet with commercial success. In the early 1960s, he recorded Sheldon and James (with Joyce James of the Womenfolk) and several albums with the Limeliters. By that time, he and Ann were settled in Los Angeles with their three daughters, and Ernie turned more attention to songwriting. He wrote some hit songs, most notably "Baby the Rain Must Fall" recorded by Glenn Yarborough, and "Seattle," recorded by Perry Como, which was also the theme song for the television show Here Come the Brides. Other songs that made the charts include "I Feel It" (Peggy Lee), "Baby What I Mean" (the Drifters), and "The Sons of Katie Elder" (Johnny Cash). He also wrote songs for movies, with composers Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith and Quincy Jones, among others. Movie credits include The Hallelujah Trail, The Sons of Katie Elder, Cast A Giant Shadow, Lord Love a Duck, and Yours, Mine and Ours. He did some writing for children's television, including Captain Kangaroo, and had a family show on KPFK in Los Angeles called "When We Sing." Family occasions always included the group singing he led. Along with songs from progressive movements of the past were favorites written by Ernie, such as "Bring Me A Rose": "Bring me a rose in the wintertime, when it's hard to find…A rose is sweet most anytime, and yet, bring me a rose in the wintertime, how easy we forget."Ernie devoted much time and energy to supporting Ann's career. He was a feminist before the movement of the 1960s and 1970s took hold. As she taught and attended school to get her doctorate in Education, he did the laundry and grocery shopping, played with the kids when they came home from school, and even shopped with them for clothes. He also participated in the Saturday morning housecleaning that the family did, singing all the while. Beginning in 1970 when Ann got her first university position, they moved for her work. Ann and Ernie lived in Amherst, Massachusetts (U. Mass), New York (Teachers College-Columbia), then moved back to California in the 1990s (the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford). Ernie spent his last few decades in Palo Alto, playing tennis well into his eighties, drinking Peet's coffee, taking long walks, and singing at family functions and, as Ann's life partner, for teachers around the world.He and Ann moved to the Moldaw Residences, a retirement community in Palo Alto, California, in 2019. As his health declined, he had assistance from the Moldaw Wellness staff, private caregivers, and Pathways Hospice. He is survived by Ann Lieberman, his wife of 71 years, daughters Laurie of Santa Monica, California; Robbie of Decatur, Georgia; and Toby of Richmond, California; grandchildren Franky, Jeannie, Jennie, Peter, and Aaron, and great-grandchild Gabe.His songs live on, reminding us of the past and the possibility of a better future: "If you open up the windows of your mind, take a look at what is happening around you; you might see wildflowers growing, feel the wind of love that's blowing, there's no way of knowing what you'll find; if you open up the windows, the windows of your mind."