It is with great sadness—and joy—that we at AJF fondly remember our friend, AJF member and passionate jewelry collector Sharon Berman. Sharon passed away recently, on August 16, 2024, after a long and hard-fought battle with cancer. I can safely say that for everyone who knew Sharon she was an inspiration, with her dogged determination, indomitable spirit, and love of life … and jewelry. Fierce and fearless, she was not going to be defined by her illness, nor would she let it get in her way.
I first met Sharon on an AJF trip to Munich Jewelry Week in 2017, my first AJF trip as a relatively new board member. I was so struck by this larger-than-life woman who wore bold and unique jewelry, colorful clothing, and big, fun glasses—her trademark glasses! As I got to know her, I learned that she owned a public relations and marketing firm in Los Angeles, was a member of several jewelry organizations, and was a passionate collector, educator, and traveler. She traveled the world searching for jewelry—all kinds of jewelry, from vintage to costume to art jewelry.
Sharon joined AJF in 2010 and was a board member from 2015–2020. She supported the organization in many ways over the years and was a staunch traveler on all of AJF’s trips. As her husband, Dr. Jonathan Kramer, shares below, he was often an AJF widower! For Sharon, AJF was a home, not a place to go, but a home.
In recent years, Sharon channeled her jewelry energy into creating and hosting the Jewelry Journey podcast, which many of you are probably familiar with. Ever curious and always learning, she talked to makers, writers, curators, designers, gallerists, educators, and collectors over 229 episodes to elevate jewelry beyond the traditional and mundane, and to advance the conversation of jewelry as art with stories to tell and meaning beyond the obvious. The final episode, to be released soon, will explore Sharon’s own jewelry journey. And so it comes full circle.
We AJF travelers have just returned from an AJF trip to Amsterdam, our first without Sharon. We missed her spirit, energy, and passion, and we raised many a glass in memory of this intrepid jewelry warrior. As a fellow traveler described her, she was a true jewel embodied in delight; a force of nature. We will miss her.
—AJF Board Chair Bonnie Levine
I’m Mr. Sharon Berman. I’m an AJF widower.
I was Sharon Joy Berman’s husband for over 32 years until her passing last month. For nearly half of those 32 years, I was an AJF widower. The actual date it happened was May 1, 2010: the day Sharon joined AJF.
Even as an AJF widower I always relished the pleasure and satisfaction Sharon inhaled from her participation in AJF. That said, your trips to visit makers … and galleries … and museums … and places around the world took Sharon away from me for weeks every year. Even when we did travel together, which we did until just six months ago, Sharon always … always … always managed to pre-schedule visits to local makers and shops.
Allow me to share a bit of Sharon’s personal arts and jewelry journey with you.
Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. After treatment, Sharon lost her hair, but not her will to travel with AJF and to serve AJF in various ways. Her breast cancer was just a small lump along her jewelry journey.
Aleah, my youngest from a previous marriage, grew to be Sharon’s daughter. She also grew to be Sharon’s traveling companion on AJF jaunts around the world. I know from Sharon and Aleah how so many of you took Aleah into your hearts and under your wings. You helped bring out and polish the facets of Aleah’s art life, and I am profoundly grateful for what she’s learned from your tutelage, your guidance, and your extended parentage of our daughter.
In 2018/2019, Sharon created “The Jewelry Journey” podcast. It was a direct outgrowth of her travels with AJF. She met such interesting arts and jewelry people through AJF that she had to figure out a way to stay in contact with them. From that sprung the podcast. Sharon’s podcast was a passion project for her … one in which she absorbed all of the production and distribution costs and never sought nor received compensation from any maker or any listener. Sharon particularly enjoyed interviewing makers who had not yet gained a high level of visibility, and sometimes did so more than once.
Alas, in 2019, Sharon’s cancer returned. She lost her hair, again, and when it grew back she began what we called her “purple era.” (I hated her purple hair, but perhaps that’s one reason she loved it so.)
Sharon’s well-known response to setbacks was “Shit! Shit! SHIT! Shit! SHIT!,” after which she resumed life like nothing had happened. Again, Sharon’s will and her goal to travel with and serve her AJF family remained as firmly entrenched in her as her desire to live life and explore.
Sharon continued her AJF journeys, now with her occupational therapist, Jules, who took over Aleah’s role as Sharon’s AJF companion.
Some four months ago, Sharon developed breathing problems. When I finally convinced her to let me take her into the ER, we were devastated to learn that the cancer had regained legion force. Through all of her treatments, Sharon fully intended to travel with AJF to Amsterdam in September. And she absolutely refused to allow me to cancel our long-planned trip to London and Paris this November. She was sure she’d be back up to speed by then.
But Sharon was speeding in a very different direction. Her journey reached its end on August 16, 2024, at 11:21 a.m. At that moment, I was holding Sharon’s left hand, and her sister held her right hand. Aleah and her husband, along with Jules, were also holding Sharon at that moment. She died the way she liked to live her life: surrounded by those who loved her, and whom she loved.
I will take the trip to London and Paris in two months in honor of Sharon, but not in her memory. This will be a bookend trip for me, for we spent our honeymoon in Paris more than three decades ago.
I loved Sharon’s eyes and heart for art jewelry, and I loved Sharon’s heart keeping her eyes on AJF and her friends in AJF. She even occasionally claimed to have eyes and heart for me; I certainly did for her.
I love that the last episode of her passion project, The Jewelry Journey Podcast, will be one recorded a few months ago. For it, Aleah interviewed Sharon about Sharon’s own Jewelry Journey. Now, Aleah’s in the process of re-editing and expanding that final episode with some commentary I’ll provide, and with additional thoughts from some people you’ll probably recognize when it goes up online in a few weeks. I’m committed to keeping the episodes online for the foreseeable (and unforeseeable) future as a tribute to Sharon and the makers and others so dear to her.
I’ll end by telling you that Sharon used to say that the only way she stayed married to me was that I still made her laugh. I used to say that she didn’t really need a husband; she just needed tech support. Neither are really complete nor completely true statements, but rather the banter of an interwoven old couple who made their way together along the same path for decades and found their peace along the way.
I’m honored that you allowed Sharon to pass through your lives via AJF. You’ll honor Sharon by continuing your own arts and jewelry journey through AJF. Who knows, maybe I’ll even join you on a trip.
—Dr. Jonathan Kramer, a.k.a. Mr. Sharon Berman
Santa Monica, CA
September 5, 2024
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