FAB History
At lunch, on the sunny patio of La Note, on July 21, 2003, five long-term friends were having a raucous discussion. The topic? The loss, upon retirement, of whatever status women had accumulated during their work lives and how women of a “certain age” were not widely celebrated. Helen Burke, a former member of the EBMUD Board and the newest retiree among the five, suggested this slight was fodder for action. Luanne Rogers, who had been the president of the Board of the Berkeley Opera, agreed. The Berkeley Opera had recently produced Women in the Garden, an imagined encounter of Isadora Duncan, Virginia Woolf, Gertrude Stein, and Emily Dickinson and how they came to know each other. The opera sparked Helen to suggest that retired women celebrate themselves at a garden party.
That inspired idea set the five politically active Berkeley women abuzz. Anna Rabkin, the former Berkeley City Auditor, volunteered her garden patio for the event. Roberta Brooks and Nancy Snow, both former aides to Congressman Ron Dellums, asked practical questions: “How many people could we invite? How would they be chosen? What would be the tenor of the party?”
All of the FAB founders, graduates of many political events, swooped into action. They owned seven card tables among them, so they could invite twenty-eight women. Each of the women chose three guests, and the final two were chosen by consensus. The goal was to allow the guests to get to know each other and have a lighthearted afternoon. The women opted for a traditional, somewhat campy high tea.
The big question was "What should we call ourselves?" Anna suggested Free Agents at Berkeley; she had started to use “free agent” as a way to describe her new status because, for the first time since the age of eighteen, she could choose how she used her time. Nancy designed the invitation for the September 30, 2003, tea, which asked each guest to bring her favorite tea cup and a book to swap. Roberta and Luanne each brought her mother's silver tea service. Seven small tablecloths were found, and mounds of crustless cucumber, egg, and ham sandwiches were made. Scones, strawberries, and clotted cream awaited FAB's first guests.
And in their diversity, they arrived, some in hats, some in their mothers’ frocks, all in for a lark. The patio was abuzz with conversation and laughter as the group sipped tea and enjoyed the bountiful buffet. Each person was asked to introduce herself to the group and all listened in awe as they realized what an accomplished group of women were assembled. Rachel Kahn-Hut, a retired sociology professor, had an “aha” moment, pointing out that the group was the vanguard of women who retired with pensions, meaning that not only could they control the use of their time, but also what activities they chose to enrich the new chapter of their lives.
The enjoyment and excitement had such momentum that the guests wanted to spread the word to their friends. “Let’s have another tea next year” was the consensus. And so another tea was planned, but with fifty-six guests the party had to move to a larger venue. After much searching, the Berkeley Yacht Club’s airy dining room featuring lovely views of the Bay and the Berkeley Hills was decided on as the location.
The planning meetings moved to former Berkeley City Councilmember Ann Chandler’s living room. It was Rachel Kahn-Hut who, during that discussion of the richness of the guests’ academic and work achievements, suggested that invitees be asked to write a two-page autobiography. These were collected, analyzed, and the summary distributed to the Annual Tea participants. A couple of years later, in 2006, a dedicated group that included Joan Allen, Bobbie Steinhardt, Doris Fine, Joyce Bird, and Rachel Kahn-Hut used the bios to produce a fascinating snapshot of the FAB membership.
Each year, Tea participants invite friends new to the group and this keeps FAB energized by new members and new ideas. Some members, not satisfied with meeting only once a year at the Tea, have formed special interest groups that meet monthly or more often. Some groups have only lasted a year or two, and others have been meeting since 2004. There are book readers, memoir writers, bridge and mahjong players, knitters, San Francisco explorers, New Yorker readers, ethnic restaurant diners, and new groups that spring up to meet the needs of our evolving membership.
A Hospitality Group is in charge of the Annual FAB Tea. The Planning Group developed a manual describing all the organizational tasks, and continues to look for ways to keep FAB members connected. A Google group called FABlist was created. For many years Bobbie Steinhardt put together the FAB Newsletter, followed by Pam Belchamber and then, in 2016, by Arlene Taylor. In 2022 a new group reimagined the publication, now named FAB Chronicles with Vivian Pisano as Publisher. It brings members’ profiles, poems, photos, paintings, articles, and interest group information to FAB members three times a year. In 2023, a Website group led by Vivian Pisano was formed with technical assistance from Jan Sutcher, now our Webmaster, and graphics and formatting by Margot Smith; thus the FAB Website freeagentsatberkeley.com. was created. Margot Smith also uploaded videos of FAB interviews to the FAB YouTube Channel.
At the historic lunch in 2003, the group talked about celebrating their maturity, experience, and elder wisdom--all of which are attributes highly valued in men, but hardly so in women. They discussed ways to enlarge the circle, and how to help women transition from full-time work.
When it began, the founders had no idea how quickly the group would grow or how many interest groups would spring up. They certainly had no inkling of how valuable FAB would become to new arrivals to the Bay Area or how important it would become during the years of Covid. Our members hope that FAB will continue to attract and serve the needs of women as they transition from work to a new and stimulating chapter in their lives.