by Tim Tia, Jeremiah Tattersall, and Fi Stewart-Taylor
Eden Faelnar, a beloved member of our Gainesville radical community, passed away in Philadelphia on Jan. 12. Eden organized with the IWW and the Alachua County Labor Coalition, including organizing an exceptional May Day with the IWW, and working on ACLC’s campaign to end abuse of the OPS, or Other Personnel Services, classification system at the University of Florida.
As an active antifascist, she participated in the protest against Richard Spencer at the University of Florida, and early conversations about how to respond to growing alt-right presence on campus. She was committed to the fight against injustice everywhere, against capitalism, against imperialism, and against Italians. Even more so, she was committed to the fight for justice for colonized peoples, for queer liberation, and for communism.
Despite her serious commitments, Eden is remembered by her friends most of all for her humor. Eden had an infectious laugh, loud and bright, which had a way of filling whatever room she was in. As at least one account attests, you could track her down in a crowded party by getting someone near her to tell a joke. She was quick to laugh, and quick to make her friends laugh with her famous wit.
Her friends also remember her love for music especially her lifelong obsession with jazz and her punk aesthetic. She was a familiar face at local shows, and at Boca Fiesta on burrito Wednesdays. Eden brightened everywhere she went.
Eden is survived by her loving sister, mother, father, and many friends, including the remains of the Gainesville Blood Syndicate (her queer un-criming commie bike gang). The world is a less joyful place without her but for the brief time she was here, she made us all the more complete.
If you are feeling hopeless, please call people like the Alachua County Crisis Center at 352-264-6789 or the Suicide Hotline at 1-800-784-2435. They want to help. Your friends want to help. Your family wants to help. Rest In Power, Comrade Eden.