Noah Greenberg: 1919-1966

The world knew him as a gifted musician, but to those of us who had grown up with him in the socialist youth movement, he was, above all, a figure from those vibrant years when everything seemed possible. Buoyant, large and zestful, he radiated a vast energy, the very heat and noise of life.

Even during his most politically active years, music was his passion. He was one of those fortunate enough to have an apartment of his own, and on Saturday nights we would pile into his place on East 14th Street, submitting ourselves to his musical teaching, listening to the baroque and medieval pieces he had discovered, and succumbing to his enthusiasm as he sang in accompaniment to the records, his voice, hands and body alive with the pleasu...