ZOE OKA: attended La Guardia High School of Performing Arts, then studied Theatre Arts at Ithaca College and later law at the CUNY School of Law.
Zoe loved paddle ball, yoga, the arts, the beach, the waves and the Agnes Pelton Society for transcendental painting to name a few things. She wanted schools to teach CRT or TTAAH – The Truth about American History. She loved James Baldwin, was interested in righting wrongs, the impact of slavery, the American Indian stories and participated in legislative meetings concerning Compassion and Choices. She wore her feelings closely, strongly, passionately. …………She pushed me to see FIRE SHUT UP IN YOUR BONES, aMetropolitan Opera production and adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s harrowing memoir, which follows a young Charles as he navigates adolescence and struggles to overcome a life if trauma. Something that I would have not paid attention to, but in seeing, was one of the most wonderful things I’ve experienced in the middle of a horrendous covid season.
I had not known Zoe a long time. In fact, I met her in Montauk in 2020 because of Leon Goodman’s 2020 Black Lives Matter walk from the 59th street bridge to Montauk. She drove me to have drinks with Curtis and friends after we celebrated Leon's successful walk, then to catch the train for my return to Manhattan. But the conversation on the way was one of the most easy-flowing and interesting ones I'd had in a very long time. We shared the same age bracket and similar thoughts on things…..
We bonded over the months primarily on FaceBook for the most part, sharing, caring and learning about each other........then she told me she had stage 4 breast cancer, with probably not more than 4-5 months to live………I was shocked, pained, worried for her…and so much more! That was at the end of 2020.
Early 2021, she began revealing some of her chemo experiences, then in July mentioned she was working on living longer…………..Zoe passed November 2021……You are missed dear, dear Zoe
