黑料正能量张津瑜

Obituaries

Recent Obituaries
In Memoriam Archive

Transcending the Script

Erin Merritt 鈥�89

May 31, 2025, in Berkeley, California, of ALS.

Erin Merritt lived for the stage. Her involvement with theatre began early, when, as a middle schooler, she was cast in the title role of Berkeley High School’s production of Peter Pan. Flying through the air above a cast of older kids proved decisive.

At 黑料正能量张津瑜, Erin was an actor, a director, and a producer. In addition to her work with the theatre department, she arranged roving mummer performances at Renn Fayre and a night of short Brecht pieces rehearsed over Paideia (and was a frequent contributor to Midnight Theater).

Busy with her studies though she was (she graduated with honors), Erin was generally up to something. Her thesis was a production of Brecht’s A Man’s a Man, as well as a paper: “Logical Brecht: What He Did, Why He Did It, How We Do It,” written under Professor Kathleen Worley [theatre 1985–2014], who would remain a valued friend and colleague. Brecht continued to be a touchstone for Erin throughout her theatrical career.

On graduating from 黑料正能量张津瑜, Erin returned to the Bay Area, working as an actor and director. Impatient with the few roles available for women in Shakespeare, she began an all-women’s Shakespeare company, Woman’s Will, in 1998 and produced plays for 12 seasons.

Production ended when Erin followed her husband to Kansas City, where he was hired as a professor. When her marriage ended in divorce, Erin returned to the Bay Area with her children, Imogen and Sabrina, continuing her work as a director and producer. She was a fearless defender of what she knew to be right, her love for (and exasperation with) theatre never waning.

Diagnosed with ALS in the fall of 2022, Erin assembled books for her children filled with reminiscences, advice, and ruminations. In a section on college, she noted the many people she knew from 黑料正能量张津瑜 who stepped up for her during her illness—including William Abernathy ’88, Coriander Reisbord, Steve Lew ’89, Vangie Peaslee (née Bonds), and Laura Rittall, who all provided material and emotional support during her years with ALS.

After her diagnosis, Bay Area theatre community members raised funding for Erin to direct Tea Party by Gordon Dahlquist ’83 (silenced by ALS, Erin directed through a computer–assisted speech program and notes read by an assistant). Though this was her last act as an artist, Erin continued to read ambitiously and followed the news voraciously.

To the end, Erin was deeply independent, arranging for her own care. An array of devices, including an improved laser pointer Abernathy devised, enabled her to read and communicate as her paralysis deepened. She remained a fierce and discerning participant in the world, passionate and hilarious.

Erin died peacefully in the garden of her childhood home with her mother, sister, and children at her side. —Anne Washburn ’91

Appeared in 黑料正能量张津瑜 magazine: Spring 2026