Ralph Strauch died on December 18, 2024. Ralph was an early member of the Feldenkrais Guild Board of Directors and Ethics Committee, and a frequent presenter at Guild conferences. Ralph introduced the Feldenkrais® community to email in the 1980’s, and created our first online forum. Ralph will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by many members of our community.
More About Ralph
Ralph E. Strauch was born on May 14, 1937. He had a PhD in statistics from UC Berkeley and was senior mathematician at the Rand Corporation. His research focused on human and organizational decision making processes. He studied Tai Chi, Aikido and related disciplines in the late 1960’s. He later developed his own personal form of body/mind practice that he called refocusing. He was in the Amherst Feldenkrais training, traveling with Merna and their two children, David and Shar. He was devoted to his family. Ralph taught the public and practitioners here in LA, and was a frequent presenter at Guild conferences. He was so very gifted. His calm, brilliance, and unassuming manner made him shine. He served on the Guild Board of Directors from 1985-97, and was an early Chair of the Ethics Committee. He is remembered for his early technical skills and starting and running the Feldyforum, the first platform for the Feldenkrais community to communicate online.
Ralph was also an author, and in 1983 he wrote The Reality Illusion, about the nature of perception, reality, and the interactions between the two. He wrote, “My book, The Reality Illusion, describes my understanding at the time it was written in the early 1980s.” He stated that his understanding only deepened and became richer as he grew and learned. Ralph passed away on December 18, 2024. So many Feldenkrais teachers and students knew, respected, and resonated with him. Those of us who knew him well loved him. He will be
missed by so many.
You can find more of Ralph’s writings on his website at www.somatic.com
Read remembrances by Beth Rubenstein and Stacy Barrows:
Beth Rubenstein Remembrance
I had taken a weekend workshop in Los Angeles in the late 1980’s and was sold on the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education. I wanted to learn more and experience more. I contacted every practitioner in the greater LA area and only one returned my phone call. It was Ralph. He became my first teacher. It was my lucky day. He did not live far from me (in Los Angeles terms) and he had availability. Long story short, I got lessons from Ralph every week for probably two years, until one day he told me that there was a new training starting in Northern California and that I needed to be in it. Ralph had become my mentor, my teacher, and my friend. I did so much exploration and growing with him. He was just that kind of person, brilliant, warm, and caring. And, he laughed at my jokes. I trusted him. Stacy Barrows and I visited with him shortly before he died. We brought him food he wasn’t supposed to eat and laughed with him. It was so lovely to spend the time with him and his wife Merna. He was so special. I cherish the time I had with him, both in the early days and later.
Stacy Barrows Remembrance
There are many stories I have with Ralph. He was my first Feldenkrais teacher, thanks to Beth. And he also became our family practitioner. He gave me a lesson while I was delivering my first child. But my favorite Ralph story is about my mother-in-law, Mary.
Mary had just lost her husband, meaning she was widowed twice. When she visited us, she suffered a severe neck injury that put her on heavy narcotics, and into the hospital. The doctors sent her home, saying there was nothing they could do. I convinced my husband to take her to Ralph. This was not going to be easy. He had to get her into his car, which was a Porsche, and drive an hour to Ralph’s home. I was at work and got a call from my husband. He asked me if I would like to talk to Mary. She was giddy and laughing, and said it is time for her to fly home. Ralph treated this grieving widow with his deep understanding of how one holds pain in the body. This had not yet been recognized in the pain science world. His session didn’t fix her pathology but allowed her to sense herself in a way that she could hold space for her grief. That was the genius behind Ralph.