Photo credit: Dave Zylstra
Milwaukee’s East Side was the cradle of counterculture during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Born from that movement was the Kane Street Co-op— the genesis of Outpost Natural Foods. One of Outpost’s co-founders, Janet Baron, who later changed her name to Rainbird, died Aug. 3 after a long illness, in Petaluma, Sonoma County, Calif. Those that knew her recall a vibrant woman who was determined to make the world a better place, even after a life-changing accident.
Steve Pincus, a co-founder of Outpost Natural Foods and owner of Tipi Produce farm, recalls how Kane Street Co-op closed after what he referred to as a “wild summer.” The co-op’s fate was uncertain until a group of dedicated individuals, which included Rainbird, stepped up.
“She had a very large role in reviving the store by organizing a benefit concert,” Pincus says. “She put it together and raised enough money to get things restarted, first as a buying club and later as a store, which reopened under the Outpost name.”
At that time, Rainbird was only 17 years old. “She was an energetic and self-expressive revolutionary. She embodied the spirit of the early ‘70s as much as anybody did and always wanted to ‘go for it,’” he recalls. “We were all pretty young and inexperienced at that time, but her more than anybody else in that group was eager to jump in and change the world.”
Patrick Small, another Outpost co-founder, remembers Rainbird as a remarkable young woman. “She was a member of the Yippies and the anti-war movement while still a student at Nicolet High School,” he says. He met her in 1969 through counterculture activities on East Side.
Small’s sister, Jean Small Dean, met Rainbird through her brother. Jean volunteered at Outpost when it was located on Booth Street. She recalls Rainbird as a very kinetic woman with a beautiful head of red hair.
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Jean co-founded a women’s commune, the Wright Street Commune. Rainbird lived with Jean and her sister, Maureen Small, at the commune during the early ‘70s. “Our commune members helped with free music in the park. We danced in the open air with our whirling skirts and our bandanas. We were young, full of optimism, and I remember feeling so alive and feeling our humanness. I’ll always remember her big smile, her enthusiasm and her love and lust for life,” Jean says.
Jean notes the commune was Rainbird’s last residence before she moved from Milwaukee to California in the early ‘70s.
From Milwaukee to California and Beyond
Within months after moving to California, Rainbird, then in her early 20s, was in a car accident that left her paraplegic. Now wheelchair-bound, she had to readjust to a new life.
Rainbird continued to lead a natural lifestyle. She purchased two acres of land in Albion, Calif. with a small house. She gardened, raised ducks and chickens and sold produce and eggs to the local natural foods store in Mendocino.
She developed a beautiful paradise on her property and later attended College of the Redwoods and University of California, Santa Cruz, where she studied Chinese culture and Mandarin. She graduated in 1991 and went to China. From 1991 through 2013, she spent much of her time in Beijing, China, and occasionally returned to California. She translated many books from Mandarin to English.
Maureen, who later became a physician, studied acupuncture in China and was in search of a particular book written in English. She eventually found one in a Chinese medicine bookstore. She later discovered that Rainbird had translated that book. “I was always so inspired by her adventurous, independent spirit. She was always open to what life had to offer,” Maureen recalls.
Zattu Kadan was Rainbird’s best friend. They met when Kadan first arrived in Albion, Calif. in 1976 and was searching for her cousin. “She was the best person in the world. She was really special and I miss her dearly,” Kadan says. Kadan now owns Rainbird’s property and is dedicated to keeping her legacy alive. The property includes a memorial birch tree grove dedicated to Rainbird’s father, Alan.
“She loved the movie Doctor Zhivago. Her vision for property saw beautiful birch trees and daffodils blooming. She wanted to recreate this beautiful scene she remembered from her childhood of watching the movie Doctor Zhivago,” Kadan says.
There will be a memorial for Rainbird in October. A full obituary will be online at the website of The Chapel by the Sea Mortuary, in Ft. Bragg, Calif.
