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Michael Goldberg, educator, dies at 57

Michael Lewis Goldberg, associate professor in the University of Washington-Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, died Dec. 26 in Los Angeles.
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January 11, 2017

Michael Lewis Goldberg, associate professor in the University of Washington-Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, died Dec. 26 in Los Angeles. He was 57. He had diabetes since he was a teenager and had undergone years of dialysis for kidney failure.

A child of Massachusetts and Los Angeles, and a resident of Kirkland, Wash., Goldberg was an award-winning author and professor of American Studies at the University of Washington-Bothell since 1993. He attended undergraduate school at UC Santa Cruz, and received his doctorate from Yale University. 

According to a biography on the University of Washington-Bothell website, his teaching interests focused on “the intersection of history and cinema, particularly Hollywood films, with a special emphasis on gender and sexuality.” His family said he was devoted to his family, friends and students, and that he was a fierce social justice advocate, a witty raconteur, a musician, gardener, cook, dog lover and Red Sox fan.

He is survived by wife Elizabeth de Forest and two sons, of Kirkland; parents Irving and Esther Goldberg of Encino; and siblings Beth and Robert.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Children’s Defense Fund, FareStart or the Northwest Kidney Foundation Fund for Hemodialysis Education.

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