Jean Seder, author, journalist, historian, and conservationist, has died at 102
She wrote articles for the Daily News, and her award-winning book, “Voices of Kensington: Vanishing Mills, Vanishing Neighborhoods,” was published in 1982.
Jean Seder, 102, of Gwynedd, Montgomery County, author, journalist, historian, poet, conservationist, social activist, and volunteer, died Thursday, Feb. 6, of age-associated decline at Foulkeways at Gwynedd senior living center.
A resident of Frankford when she was young, a lifelong Philadelphia historian, and a tireless researcher, Mrs. Seder wrote the award-winning Voices of Kensington: Vanishing Mills, Vanishing Neighborhoods in 1982.
The 84-page book features 17 poignant oral histories of men and women who, between 1920 and 1960, lived near and worked in her father’s Craftex textile mill in Kensington. Their life stories — triumphant and tragic, and rendered poetic through Mrs. Seder’s lyrical transcriptions — connected with readers, and the book was celebrated for its depth and significance in local history.
The Daily News published full-page excerpts from the book in a three-part series in April 1982, and she went on to appear at readings and public panel discussions for years. “I didn’t mean it as a scholarly thing,” she told the Daily News in 1982. “I wanted to show what people were like. They’re not that way today. These kinds of people are just sort of disappearing. When they retire, that’s the end.”
Mrs. Seder wrote eight more books, including 1985’s Voices of Another Time and 1988’s A Certain Tract of Land. She also penned poetry, children’s novels, freelance stories for the Daily News and other publications, and a regular column for the Times Chronicle in Jenkintown for seven years.
The Inquirer, Daily News, and other publications chronicled her writing and conservation work, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia recognized Voices of Kensington as the best nonfiction book of 1983. “She loved researching in the archives,” said her daughter Susan. “She could spend hours in the library.”
“One woman said that when she was in trouble, she would knock on her neighbor’s door, and the neighbor would come running over. Now she said she doesn’t know her neighbor. That closeness and that helping is gone.”
Mrs. Seder noticed nuance in everyday details. In 1981, she wrote a story called “Panes of Christmas” for the Daily News. She said: “When the holidays come, the windows of Kensington blossom. … It’s as if the front window is the housewife’s greeting to the street, her affirmation that a decent family lives in the house.”
In 1985, the Daily News published her poem “Now Everything Rests Until Spring.” It begins with: “Now everything rests until spring/Last night the cold set in/The goldfish cling together, heavy and low/In the icy pond/Indifferent to the food I throw them.”
She was a founding member of the Wyncote chapter of the National Audubon Society, and A Certain Tract of Land was inspired by her determination to save and maintain the Crosswicks Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in Abington Township. She detailed the 20-acre property’s history and environmental significance in the 75-page book, and told The Inquirer in 1988: “I’m not anti-development. … I’m just saying let’s be intelligent about it.”
Jean Agnes Blum was born Aug. 30, 1922, in Philadelphia. Her father was an author, journalist, and painter as well as a business owner, and she followed in his literary footsteps.
“Abington has little pockets, and we need to preserve them. ... Crosswicks is just a symbol of what we need to do. ... Developers and environmentalists need to work together.”
She went to Frankford High School, enjoyed summers with family in New Hampshire, and graduated from Abington Friends School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Bryn Mawr College and a master’s degree in English literature at Temple University, and briefly considered a teaching career.
She married Simmon Seder, and they had daughters Susan and Jennifer and a son, Jeffrey. They lived in Philadelphia, Elkins Park, and Jenkintown. Her husband died in 1991.
Mrs. Seder protested the Vietnam War in the 1960s and ’70s, and immersed herself in community life wherever she was. “She was restless, always out and about,” her daughter Susan said. “She pushed herself and was about achieving results.”
She married Benjamin Asia in the mid-1990s and lived in Seattle for a few years. He died about 25 years ago, and she moved to Foulkeways.
Mrs. Seder liked making crafts when her children were young and later walking her rescue dogs in nearby parks. She taught high school English for a few years and volunteered as a teacher’s aide at the Family School of Phoenix while visiting family there. She especially enjoyed show-and-tell.
She loved birds and dogs, and, at 102, could still recite dozens of poems and Shakespeare sonnets. She often asked family and friends: “Do you want a poem?” They always said yes.
Her daughter Susan said: “She was a presence.”
In addition to her children, Mrs. Seder is survived by six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and other relatives. A granddaughter, a sister, and a brother died earlier.
A celebration of her life is to be at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, 1120 Meetinghouse Rd., Gwynedd, Pa. 19436.
Donations in her name may be made to the Liberty Bird Alliance, 1212 Edge Hill Rd., Abington, Pa. 19001; PETA, 501 Front St., Norfolk, Va. 23510; and the Family School of Phoenix, 1127 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix, Ariz. 85007.