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Alumni Notes from Martin Snapp, J.D. ’72

PBS’S MASTERPIECE FRANCHISE HAD TWO RUNAWAY HITS THIS year, both British period productions. One was no surprise: All Creatures Great and Small, which already had a built-in audience from the original series that ran from 1978 to 1990.

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But the other came out of the blue: Miss Scarlet and the Duke, a detective story set in 1880s Victorian England, featuring a plucky heroine, a dashing but slightly sketchy leading man, plot twists, and a will-they-won’t-they tension that harks back to Moonlighting in its prime.

“On the day we found out we were one of the finalists [for the Pulitzer], I called the five photographers into my office, and said, ‘I would love you guys to win this; but win or lose, it doesn’t make what you guys did any better or worse.’ But when we won, it was like a World Series locker room, with champagne everywhere.”

Other papers soon came calling, including the New York Times. “Because of the nature of newspapers, at some point you become kind of cute and popular. But I thought, ‘Do I really want to do another newspaper? Or do I want to do something completely different?’ And I started exploring the notion of going to entertainment. I didn’t feel confident that I could sit down and write spec scripts, so I basically sold myself as a guy who can read and write English and manage people.”

He started at ABC as a programming executive.

“After about a year they moved me to comedy development, and I worked on a bunch of them, including Roseanne and Home Improvement. Looking back, they gave me a lot of difficult shows and some of the more difficult showrunners because writers have always been my people, and most executives are terrified of writers. So all those managing editor skills translated to being an executive, and ultimately an executive producer.”

After about five years at ABC, Myman joined the Carsey-Werner company, home of That ’70s Show and 3rd Rock, then moved to Sony as an executive, then to HBO before forming his own production company, Element 8 Entertainment, with two partners, one of whom is also an Old Blue, Jin Ishimoto ’90. Their first production: Miss Scarlet.

“We basically shot the six episodes in season one in 50-some-odd days straight. Everybody was out to pull together; this was not a luxury cruise. We

And presiding over it all is executive producer Harvey Myman, who got his bachelor’s from Cal in English literature in 1970 and his master’s in journalism in 1992.

“I think I hold the record f o r t h e a m o u n t o f t i m e between my coursework and my thesis,” he says. “I came back to the J-school to give the commencement address, and the dean said, ‘Harvey, it’s embarrassing that you haven’t g o t t e n y o u r d e g r e e .’ S o I finally finished my thesis.”

By then he was the managing editor for news at the Orange County Register and w a s i n st r u m e n t a l i n t u r n ing the paper from an afterthought into a Pulitzer Prize winner with a national reputation. The first Pulitzer was for the photo coverage of the 1984 Olympic Games, which he supervised.

It was a complete makeover. The company that owned the Register, Freedom Newspapers, had a deep libertarian bent that affected all parts of the operation. “They had word lists. Martin Luther King could not be referred to as Dr. King; public schools were ‘tax-supported schools.’ It was insane.” One of the assurances he was given coming in was that the newsroom would be completely separate from the editorial page. And that independence was occasionally reflected in editorials that would complain about the news coverage.

“It was like starting from scratch. We were a little like the old Oakland Raiders. We had these wildly talented people, a lot of whom were misfits that we brought in from around the country. For whatever reasons, things didn’t quite work out for them at the New York Times or the Dallas Morning News; but they were terrific writers and phenomenal reporters, and we created a home for them.

Mastermind: Harvey Myman went from managing editor to network executive to independent producer of Masterpiece Theater’s Miss Scarlet & the Duke.

had a great director, Declan O’Dwyer, who really helped create a vision and a look for the show. And it was obvious that this was a labor of love for everyone—the costume designers, the set designers, the writers, the actors—and when that happens and it all comes together, it’s a really beautiful thing.”

And that’s reflected in the ratings, so much that PBS has already picked up the option for the next season, with planning and prepping already underway for the season after that. “Being an executive producer is a lot like being a managing editor again,” says Myman. “It’s my job to help make a terrific thing even better.”

THE SUCCESS OF ANCIENT ROME WAS at least partly due to engineering marvels like the aqueducts that delivered a reliable supply of water to all social strata of the Roman population for hundreds of years.

If anyone knows the role that water plays in keeping societies stable, it’s Jennifer Capitolo, M.S.W. ’03, executive director of the California Water

Association. Her job is to advocate on behalf of water utilities that are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission—as opposed to water utilities that are owned by local governments—and the people they serve. “At CWA, the members’ customers are our customers,” she says.

And in this era, when California’s population keeps growing but its water supply does not, a large part of that job consists of making sure the cost doesn’t fall unevenly.

“Affordability is something that we’re all concerned about,” she says. “Water continues to increase in price just like everything else. And when you’re providing an essential service, and water is essential, we have to figure out how to balance affordability and make sure that no one is struggling to pay for something that is essential.”

To this end, she’s trying to convince the state to scrap a separate program for California PUC-regulated utilities in which some customers have to pay twice for the same service— directly as monthly rates on their water bills and indirectly as taxpayers—and replace it with a single system that creates a statewide, pooled low-income ratepayer assistance program and amortizes the low-income discount more evenly throughout the whole state.

A real life example: San Gabriel Valley, where almost all of the communities are low-income. “So when you try to create a local program to offer a discount,” Capitolo says, “you end up having low-income or middle-income people subsidizing the very lowincome because you don’t have a high-income population in the water utility’s service area.” The solution, she says, is to pool the cost statewide, where all water utilities in the state pay into a single fund, and the program is administered statewide. “[This problem] is unique to water utilities because we have 7,000 drinking water utilities in California; and when you have 7,000 systems, they ’re very small and very localized geographically, so you don’t have that ability to redistribute wealth. Compare that to energy utilities: We have three large energy utilities, and those three represent big swaths of the state of California. So they have a good mix of high income and low income to make those programs work. But because there are so many water utilities, and we’re so spread out all across the state, we don’t have the ability to have a local program. You need a statewide program.”

Naturally, that requires a lot of meetings with decision makers in Sacramento, and Capitolo says it was the lessons she learned at Cal that gave her the skills to do that.

“I’m really a social worker working in the water industry. Part of what I do is helping to build consensus public policy ideas and just listening. That’s what we try to do in the social work field: listening to people and understanding their points of view and where they’re coming from and why they’re sitting at that table with the position that they have.”

It’s not a job she ever thought she’d have. “I didn’t choose water; water chose me.”

Unhappily, her two sons, ages 5 and 9, are unimpressed. “I’ve been telling them water jokes lately,” she says. “And they don’t think I’m funny at all.”

FINALLY, DO YOU REMEMBER ERIC STEVENS ’12, the captain of the football team, and his wife, Cal soccer star Amanda Glass Stevens ’13, who have been battling his Lou Gehrig ’s disease, which was diagnosed 30 days after their wedding ? The fight goes on, but in the meantime a third person has joined the team. Meet Peyton James S t e v e n s , Class of 2044, who was born January 21. Weight: 6 lbs. 4 oz. Height: 1 9 i n c h e s . “ T h i s p a s t week has been a dream,” Amanda wrote on Instagram. “ You are just what we needed, little girl.”

Reach Martin Snapp at catman442@comcast.net.

41 Betty Courtright Keogh, Jan. Betty met her husband Jim while they were students at Cal, and they were inseparable for 55 years (except for two years during WWII). Unfortunately, Betty had to spend her last three decades without her soulmate, but she did so with grace and fierce independence. In her last months, she often asked her son, Brian, to read to her from Calif ornia. Betty passed away at age 101.

46 Ro b e r t We n d e l l L u h r, Feb. 28 in Lake Oswego, OR. Bob worked hard to reduce his height but was unable to join the military, at 6'7". A proud member of Phi Gamma Delta, he met his soulmate of 71 years, Virginia, at Delta Delta Delta. Bob started his career at Cutter Labs and later joined GATX. He adored the mountains and enjoyed hiking and fishing. He is survived by his children, Kathy and David, and four grandchildren.

48 Joan Lynch Coan, June 1, 2020 in Wa l d w i c k , N J. Jo a n w a s a N a v y Veteran and used the GI bill to enroll at UC Berkeley, against her parents wishes. It was the beginning of higher education in her family. She is survived by five children, 15 grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

Dean Solinsky, May 10, 2020 in Eureka. Dean served in WWII with the Army Air Corps. Post-war, he graduated from Cal and worked with his brother Frank in their consulting firm. Dean was one of the first members of the California Chapter of the Association of Consulting Foresters. In 2005 he received the ACF Distinguished Forester Award.

50 B a r b a ra Fra n ke B o y l e , Oct. 3 in Walnut Creek. Barbara worked in real estate for several decades, earning her broker’s license and serving as an officer of the Contra Costa Board of Realtors. She supported the Cal Alumni Association, Lafayette Historical Society, and Lamorinda Democratic Club. She is survived by her three children, Jerry ’76, Randy ’80, and Judi ’83, and granddaughter, Emily.

Walter K. Janssen, M.D., Jan. 17 in Huntington Beach. Walt and his wife, Diane ’51, met at a Cal fraternity mixer and were happily married for 60 years. Donations may be made in Walter’s name to the Scott K. Janssen Memorial Scholarship Fund. He is survived by his daughter, Laura.

Glen Mortensen, Feb. 19 in Stockton. Born and raised in Utah, Glen served in WWII in England repairing B-17s. Afterward, he studied at Cal and met his wife, Carolyn ’47. Glen was the primary architect for the School of Pharmacy at U.O.P. and the Woodruff Regional Occupational Center. His most notable design is Burn’s Tower at U.O.P. Glen loved singing with the Stockton Chorale and the barbershop chorus, the Portsmen. He is survived by children Dean, Marit, and Farel ’80; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

51 Suzanne Adelson, Sept. 16 in Chula V i st a . B o r n i n B r u s s e l s, S u z a n n e worked in Germany for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation A dministration (UNRRA), helping to resettle concentration camp survivors, before immigrating to the U.S. and obtaining her B.A. from Cal and M.A. from City College of New York. As a social worker in San Francisco, Suzanne developed an affordable senior housing project. In 1979, she returned to school to get her doctorate and later worked for Child Protective Services. She enjoyed painting, cooking, and walking around the Lafayette Reservoir.

David A. Young, March 2 in Folsom. A licensed p r o f e s s i o n a l e n g i n e e r, D a v i d e n j o y e d a 50-year career as a consulting engineer. He served 14 years as city engineer of Petaluma, followed by consulting on public works and private development projects in Arizona and California. He is survived by his wife, Doris, two children, and two granddaughters.

52 C a ro l ( O rc h i s o n ) We s t , Nov. 17 in Moraga. Carol treasured the many friendships she formed with her fellow Cal alumni over the years and remained a diehard Bears fan throughout her life. She is survived by her three children, Marianne, Nancy, and Jim ’88, and eight grandchildren.

53 Robert Uphoff, Feb. 25 in Santa Barbara. After graduating in business, Bob began making and selling dental instruments and distributing innovative surgical needle-holders to hospitals nationally. During a trip to Manhattan Beach, Bob met his wife and lifelong travel companion, Inge. Bob played on the Berkeley water polo and swim teams and later enjoyed coaching and entertaining kids in the family pool. He is survived by his wife, two children, and one grandchild.

54 Ann Hawley, Jan. 30 in Walnut Creek. Ann is survived by a niece, two nephews, several grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews, and a daughter in heart, Amy Worth ’75.

57 H e n r y L u r i e , M . S. ’ 5 8, P h . D. ’ 6 1 , March 6 in Rancho Palos Verdes. Henry was a loving husband, father, brother, and loyal friend, as well as an accomplished engineer, bridge player, and classical music aficionado. After fleeing Nazi Germany to Israel, he immigrated to the U.S. A firstgeneration college student, he studied engineering at Cal, earning the University Medal as an undergraduate. Henry was a longtime camper at the Lair of the Bear and a member of the CAA Board of Directors. In 1993, he was recognized as a Distinguished Engineering Alumni. Henry is survived by his wife Inga; brother, Joel ’69; daughters, Suszi ’88 and Kathy; Inga’s children; and six grandchildren.

58 Barbara Perasso Levenson, Feb. 7 in San Rafael. Barbara taught grammar school for over 30 years. She met her husband, Howard, at a Cal Homecoming Dance, and they were married for 59 years. Barbara was a member of the Cal Ice Skating Club, spoke Italian, loved to water and snow ski, and traveled frequently to Italy to visit relatives. She was a Lifetime member of the Cal Alumni Association. She leaves her husband, Howard; daughters, Laurie and Shelley; two grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Edward H. Peterson, Feb. 17 in Indian Wells. Ed received a B.S. in business from Cal, and enjoyed a long career in real estate. He was a Bear Backer, a Berkeley Fellow, and served as chairman of the U C Berkeley Foundation and Northern California co-chair of the Keeping the Promise Campaign. The Mark Twain bench in the Doe Library was one of his fondest philanthropic accomplishments. He received the Wheeler Oak Meritorious Award and the Chancellor’s Award. He is survived by his two siblings, three children, eight grandchildren, niece, and nephew.

59 J o h n H a r v e y M i l l e r, Ja n . 1 1 i n Pasadena. John died as a result of Alzheimer’s and COVID-19. He was a Bowlesman, a member of the varsity crew, and Naval ROTC. He is survived by his wife, Carlene Clarke Miller, Ph.D. ’81.

60 Charles Shere, Dec. 15 in Healdsburg. Charles grew up in Berkeley and rural Sebastopol. He graduated from Cal with a degree in English, studied musical composition and conducting, and had a long, varied career in Bay Area music, art, and media. He founded and published the new-music magazine Ear and authored many books. He and Lindsey, his wife of 63 years, were founding partners of Berkeley ’s Chez Panisse restaurant. Charles is survived by his brother, Jim; sons, Lee and Paolo; daughters, Thérèse and Giovanna; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

John “Jack” Forsyth Helms, MBA ’60, Jan. 22 in Walnut Creek. Jack received an accounting degree from the U. of Washington, served three years as an officer in the U.S. Navy,

and earned an MBA at Haas. He worked in various information technology and financial positions. After his retirement, he and his wife, Julie, studied Spanish, traveled to Mexico and Central America, and spent time at their Lake Tahoe cabin. He is survived by his son, David; daughter, Laurie; and five grandchildren.

61 Donald Duane Carmony, Ph.D. ’61, Jan. 14 in Walnut Creek. Duane, an accomplished particle physicist, passed away due to COVID-19. During his tenure at Purdue University, he mentored many students. His research into atomic structure was published in journals and textbooks, and he was inducted into the American Physical Society. An avid bird watcher, Duane amassed a “life list” of 2,500+ species. He is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

Gail (Franchini) Green, Jan. 23 in Vancouver, WA. At Cal she was an Alpha Phi and met her husband, Cal football player James Edward Green ’61. They had two children before James died of ALS in 1985. Gail served as the Larkspur Finance Director in the 90s and later moved to Vancouver. She married again in 2014. She is survived by her husband, Joe; children, Jim and Susan; sister, Carol ’64; brother, William ’69; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Robert LaLiberte, August 25 in Carmichael. Bob was head yell leader for the Bears and President of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He worked for the State of California in public policy and administration and retired after 25 years with the Department of Education. He is survived by two children and five grandsons. 62 Anthony E. Way, Dec. 5 in Ashland, OR. To ny a tt e n d e d U CLA b e f o r e transferring to Cal, where he earned his B.S. and M.S. in zoology. Tony received his M.D. from UCSF and later served as faculty at UC Davis. At age 54, he earned an MBA from Golden Gate University. He practiced urology in Petaluma for 22 years and later worked as Chief Medical Consultant for the California Dept. of Health. Tony toured the U.S. in an RV, traveled to Bermuda, Mexico, and Europe, and consulted in Zambia. He is survived by his wife, Joy; sons, Dylan and Christopher; and two grandchildren. 63 Joan (Chin) Quock, Oct. 29 in Kailua, HI. Joan was married for over 50 years to Steve Quock, who studied at the College of Environmental Design. She is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

65 Henry (Hank) Richard Herrera, Nov. 19 in Casper, WY. Hank had a long career as a psychiatrist before transitioning to farming, land trusts, and food equity. He served at Standing Rock and worked with the Ohlone community, the Gill Tract Farm, and food justice projects on the Wind River Reservation. He is survived by his children, Catherine, James, Susan, David, Adriana, and Gregory; grandchildren, including Pablo ’19; and soulmate, Lisa.

66 Robert J. Renouf, March 16 in Livermore. Robert was a member of Sigma Phi Delta, the professional engineering fraternity, a registered professional electrical engineer in California, and a PG&E employee for 27 years. He enlisted in the Air Force Reserves in 1966, was called to active duty after the USS Pueblo incident, and retired as a staff sergeant in 1972. He is survived by his wife, Linda ’66; children, Stephen ’90 and Mark; and two grandchildren.

67 Donald Earl Schlotz, J.D. ’74, Feb. 1 2 i n O a k l a n d . D o n l e t t e r e d i n wrestling at Cal and served in Vietnam as a combat engineer. After studying at Berkeley Law, he had a successful legal career in San Francisco. He traveled widely and loved live music. Don was a Cal sports fanatic, a member of Big C, and a Bear Backer. 69 B r i a n K a h n , J.D. ’73, Oct. 29 in M o n t a n a . W h i l e a t B o a l t L a w School, Brian was varsity head coach of the Cal Boxing team, for which he competed as an undergrad. He served on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and was later elected president of the California Fish and Game Commission. A Montana Governor’s Award recipient, Brian helped restore the almost-extinct California Condor, produced acclaimed documentaries, Return of the Desert Bighorn and A Thousand Cranes, directed t h e Mo n t a n a N a t u r e C o n s e r v a n c y, a n d founded the Artemis Wildlife Foundation. His public radio show, Home Ground Radio, aired for 24 years in the Rocky Mountain West.

70 Lois Sims Stack, June 28. Lois was born in Southern California and “grew up in Orange County when it was full of orange groves.” Lois earned her undergraduate degree in art history. She enjoyed traveling, visiting her grandchildren, and teaching Sunday school. When she passed, she had just spoken with her brother, Lowell, and was holding hands with her husband, Stephen, her dear friend, Moe, and child, Amy.

BEVERLY CLEARY ’38

It was a quiet morning at Sather Gate Book Shop in Berkeley during World War II. Beverly Cleary, who was working at the shop, idly picked up a children’s book. “‘Bow-wow. I like the green grass,’ said the puppy,” she read, as she later recalled in a memoir. “How ridiculous,” she thought. “No puppy I had known talked like that.” In those days, books were filled with children who had nannies and were always well-behaved. Where were the feisty kids who ate with their mouths open, who slammed doors, who had families with financial worries? Wanting to see books that reflected real life, she decided to write them herself.

She went on to become one of the world’s most cherished authors, enchanting young readers with such classic characters as Ramona Quimby and Ralph S. Mouse. Cleary died on March 25 in Carmel at age 104.

Born in McMinnville, Oregon, in 1916, Beverly Atlee Bunn was raised an only child on a farm in the Willamette Valley town of Yamhill, which didn’t have a library until her mother established one. It wasn’t an easy childhood. Her family lost their farm when Cleary was only 6 and had to relocate to Portland. Her father lost his job in the Depression, an experience that inspired the plot of Ramona and Her Father (1977).

These early years are the backbone of her work. “In my books I write for the child within myself,” Cleary told the The Oregonian in 1961. “I simply write the books I wanted to read when I used to put on my roller skates and go to the branch library.”

Beverly Bunn graduated from Berkeley in 1938 with a degree in English. Two years later, she married Clarence Cleary, a graduate student she had met at Cal. Cleary started writing books in her early 30s, and in 1950 she published Henry Huggins, her first of more than 40 books. In her nearly half-century-long career, Cleary continued to bring her life into her writing, including her twins, who inspired the book Mitch and Amy.

Cleary enjoyed numerous honors and distinctions. She was declared a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress in 2000 and received the National Medal of Arts in 2003. She is the namesake of a Berkeley campus residence hall. Her work has been published in over 14 different languages and sold more than 90 million copies.

Asked on NBC’S Today show what she was most proud of, the author said simply: “the fact that children love my books.”

Cleary is survived by her two children, Malcolm and Marianne, three grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. —N.A.

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