Freddie Baer passed Wednesday night, November 12, after a lengthy struggle with that aggressive asshole, cancer.

Freddie contained multitudes. Like the collage artist she was, she pulled these sometimes disparate pieces together into Freddie – someone who was so uniquely herself, so one-of-a-kind, that it is almost hard to describe her.

You may have known her from her foodie passions – when she found a restaurant that was great, she frequented it, in every sense of the word, making friends of the staff, introducing other friends to the restaurant, relishing those meals.

Maybe you knew Freddie from her arts – her collage work, her beading work, her graphic design, her calendar collage parties, her many many screen prints or political posters or works for fan communities or AK Press. Come to think of it, those are also arts of assemblage – where someone like Freddie, who has a good eye for individual pieces, and even more important, a good eye for the potential they have to work together.

Those assembling arts brought us to another Freddie passion – thrifting. Freddie loved a bargain, but more than that, she loved finding treasures – whether they were designer label clothes, or gorgeous glass balls, or hidden gems of paintings by local artists.

Maybe her eye for the exquisite was also responsible for her eclectic and enormous circle of friends. From artists to science fiction fandom to anarchists, Freddie was always making friends. Probably most of us engaged with her first because of her passions, her quirks, her humor – her enormous personality. But at the core, Freddie’s friends loved her because of her kindness. Freddie’s kindness and generosity were so deep and intrinsic to her nature, that paradoxically you could almost miss them, just by focusing on the personality, or her sometimes gruff mask. But she would always share what she had, open her home to you, put her works in the world heedless of credit.

However you knew Freddie, you probably knew her strong opinions and wicked sense of humor, as well as her quirkiness and kindness.

Fredrika Baer, born September 10, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, died November 12, 2025, in Eureka, California.

[written by Freddie’s friend, Laura Quilter] [posted on facebook]

More information will be announced soon.

Please start looking for photos & video to post to Freddie’s webpage that is being created. freddiebaer.com