It is with sadness that we report the death of one of Cincinnati's great art patrons, Lois Rosenthal, at age 75. This notice was in today's issue of The New York Times:
ROSENTHAL—Lois, 75, on July 20, 2014, died peacefully. She is survived by her husband Richard, their children Jennie (Allan) Berliant and David, her grandchildren Elizabeth and Andrew Berliant and Eva and Mae Rosenthal, and her brother Harvey (Mary) Reis. An activist, environmentalist, supporter and participant in organizations that defended the oppressed, the hungry, and the disadvantaged, she initiated many programs and activities. From the Ohio Innocence Project which has exonerated 17 wrongfully convicted people, to the Fresh Produce initiative at the Freestore Foodbank, and the Rosey Reader Program which has provided books to over 30,000 Cincinnati Public School children, grades K-3, to foster a love of reading, to her creation of Uptown Arts which provides free classes in art, music, acting and dance to five-ten year old city kids. During Lois' 28-year tenure on the board of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, she and her husband established the Rosenthal New Play Prize which produced 15 world premier productions, several nominated both for the Pulitzer Prize and produced in New York. As a member of the Board of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Lois and Dick endowed the museum to allow free admission in perpetuity. Lois was also a member of the Board of The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. There, once again drawing on her compassion for those with little or no voice, she envisioned, championed and funded Invisible: Slavery Today, the world's first museum-quality, permanent exhibition on the subjects of modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Along the way, Lois wrote a weekly consumer column for the Cincinnati Enquirer for 10 years, had a call-in radio show, and wrote features for several national magazines. Among her seven books, Living Better was a Book of the Month Club selection. Lois relaunched Story magazine in 1989 with her husband. In five of the 10 years she edited Story, it was nominated for the National Magazine Award for short fiction. In two of those years Story won the prestigious award. Like the founders of Story— Whit Burnet and Martha Foley— who first published the works of today's marquis writers, Lois first published stories by Juno Diaz, Elizabeth Graver and Nathan Englander among others. Mother, wife, friend to many, Lois Rosenthal transformed organizations, intellectually and with creative determination. We're all better for her high standards, her dynamic personality, the impact she made on so many lives, and her contagious enthusiasm for doing good.
There will be a memorial service in the Marx Theater at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 15.
