Edmund O. Russell

1962 - 2019

Edmund Owen Russell, age 57, of Northampton, passed away due to heart failure and years of struggle with multiple sclerosis. Ed was born in Strasbourg, France. He grew up with his family in Belmont and Sudbury, MA. He attended the Corwin- Russell School @ Broccoli Hall and graduated high school from the Cambridge School of Weston. After graduation he lived in Cambridge and worked at the Community Builders Cooperative, and was a sound engineer for music groups in Boston. He was also an avid musician and played bass guitar in several bands. After moving to Northampton, Massachusetts, Ed was instrumental in bringing the radio show Democracy Now! to the local airwaves. He joined forces with longtime activist Frances Crowe to operate a pirate radio station which broadcast politically-oriented content, including Democracy Now! He later became a key leader and founder of the non-commercial community radio station, Valley Free Radio (WXOJ-LP 103.3 FM), in Northampton, which, to this day, broadcasts dozens of news, public affairs, and music programs. His own radio spot on the Valley Free Radio dial was Active Ingredients, which provided recordings of guest speakers at local colleges and beyond, and was a critical archive of important speeches by renowned national and international leaders. He also made the recordings available on his web site, activeingredients.org. Ed leaves his parents, Helen and Tony Russell, his brother, Stephen, sister-in-law, Linda, and nephews Max and Jason Russell, and uncles and aunts, Charles and Inger Russell, Richard and Therese June, Everett and Vanda June, cousins Wilford and Anna Hoover, and many others. A memorial service will be held this summer in Northampton. Massachusetts. A donation in his memory can be made to Valley Free Radio through its website, valleyfreeradio.org. For online guestbook, please visit www.Duckett-Waterman.com.