https://www.mintonchatwell.com/obituaries/beverly-axelrod

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5786844&forum_id=2Firm#49352533)

Freude Bartlett, a longtime friend, said Mrs. Axelrod's work was serious, but her personality was fun loving. "She loved to party and she loved to have a good time," Bartlett said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5786844&forum_id=2Firm#49352557)

The Ghost in Cleaver’s Machine: Beverly Axelrod, Misogyny, and the Making of *Soul on Ice*

Leigh Silverton

Leigh Silverton

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3 min read

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Jun 22, 2025

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by Leigh Silverton, Ph.D.

Leroy Eldridge Cleaver’s *Soul on Ice* is often hailed as a revolutionary landmark — raw, confessional, and politically searing. But beneath its myth lies a quieter, almost erased story: that of Beverly Axelrod, the Jewish civil rights attorney who typed, edited, submitted, and championed Cleaver’s writing. She may well be the reason the book exists at all.

### Beverly Axelrod: The Woman Behind the Words

Axelrod was a white, Jewish attorney known for her progressive values and deep commitment to racial justice. She represented members of the Nation of Islam and fought for civil rights long before she encountered Cleaver. Their relationship began as a correspondence while he was in prison. It soon turned romantic, then editorial, and ultimately transformative — for him. For her, it ended in betrayal.

Axelrod didn’t just believe in Cleaver’s potential. She shaped it. She selected which essays to include, edited his grammar and syntax, arranged for his work to appear in *Ramparts*, and submitted *Soul on Ice* to publishers. Yet when Cleaver emerged from prison and joined the Black Panthers, he quickly discarded her — both romantically and professionally. Publicly, he derided her and erased her contributions.

### Publishing and Patriarchy

Cleaver’s rise illustrates a bitter truth: men are rarely condemned for using their networks or relationships to advance, while women are often accused of “using their femininity.” Axelrod’s labor was reframed as obsession. Her support was downgraded to infatuation. The myth of Cleaver as the “natural genius from prison” erased the woman who helped build the myth.

This isn’t new. In publishing, academia, and politics, women who promote men are rarely remembered. Women who promote themselves are vilified.

### The Violence of the Text

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5786844&forum_id=2Firm#49352624)