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Remembering Marion Softky from the Almanac’s early days By Jane Knoerle Almanac Lifestyle Editor
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arion Softky and I were colleagues for 35 years. She started working for the Almanac in 1969. I came aboard six years later. In those early days, the Country Almanac was an “all girl band,” a newspaper founded and run by women. Most of us had similar backgrounds. We were well-educated married women with children, proud to be writing about the communities we lived in. In the 1970s, the Almanac was located in a cramped little building in Woodside, where locals often wandered in and engaged reporters in conversation. Copy was due at 1 p.m. Thursday for the weekly publication deadline. Marion, who usually worked at home, would rush in at the last minute before deadline, her arms filled with papers. She was always excited over her latest story, considering it “the most important.” After deadline we would troop out for lunch, maybe a sandwich on the deck of the Book and Bean, or a hamburger down the street at the Little Store. Through the years we got to know each other’s families, including Marion’s mother, who in her 80s would take long walks around Woodside when visiting from Philadelphia. We brought broken lamps and such for young Ed Softky to repair at his “fix-it shop.” We heard about
Ed’s and Bill’s involvement with the Menlo-Atherton Jazz Band. In the 1980s, the Country Almanac (as it was known then) moved to Menlo Park under its new owners, Mort and Elaine Levine. Marion often rode her bicycle from her home on Encinal Avenue to our offices on Oak Grove Avenue. The “lunch bunch” still got together after deadline. La Luna restaurant, Siam Garden, and Yuen Yung were favorites. As the years passed, we attended our children’s weddings, mourned the death of a parent, a divorce, or the loss of a spouse. Marion’s husband, Sheldon, died 18 years ago, shortly after the paper became part of Embarcadero Publishing, and two years before it moved its offices to the Alameda de las Pulgas in Menlo Park.
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Softky, he said. “Most people are not at meetings,” Mr. Mader said. “They don’t know what’s going on unless it’s reported well. We lost a very valuable member of the community.” Marion “was extremely accurate. She didn’t interpret. She told it as it was,” Mr. Mader said. “It was a great pleasure knowing her and working with her in that capacity.” “What a wonderful woman she was,” said Nita Spangler, a former Almanac contributor and a personal friend of Ms. Softky. “I’m really going to miss her. “She was a very bright woman and very modest. She had a great sense of humor. She’s the kind of person you want to have for a friend for the rest of your life.” Ms. Softky was “a very charming individual,” Ms. Spangler said. “She definitely is on my sorry-to-see-her-go list.” A
Photo by Fran Dempsey
Marion Softky covering an early Portola Valley Town Council meeting.
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would have been expensive — in September the City Council authorized a $3.5 million payment to the state, which was due in January. The annual fee after that would have been approximately $829,000, according to finance staff. Earlier in the year the council had also unanimously approved the creation of new funding agreements and a housing
Marion was the first reporter at the Almanac to use a computer at home, but she also came into the office, where her desk featured a photo of her son, Bill, in the Peace Corp in Cameroon, and a sign saying “Cassandra was right.” At one time, her car sported a personal license plate that again referenced Cassandra. (In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a prophet whose predictions of doom were true but never believed.) Marion Softky was an original. Born and bred in the East, a graduate of Bryn Mawr, she became a true Californian, loving the outdoors and its natural beauty. She was serious about important issues, but had a lighter side, such as her fascination with Koko the gorilla she loved writing about. Despite her final illness, Marion kept up her active lifestyle. This summer she made her annual trek to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and celebrated her birthday in September at the beach. Just two weeks before her death, she drove to Berkeley to spend the weekend with a friend. They went out to dinner and attended an East Bay Open Space District dedication. On Dec. 13, eight of us Almanac “old-timers” had a Christmas luncheon. Marion came, looking surprisingly well, despite the fact she could only take chicken broth and tea. In her final illness, she showed the strength of character that made her so special. I feel honored to have had her as a friend. A
authority to transfer assets out of its RDA beyond the state’s reach, but city officials don’t know whether the state will honor those agreements. Asked how the court’s ruling would affect the city, Interim City Manager Starla JeromeRobinson said: “We are still sorting through the decision, but the bottom line appears to be the elimination of all redevelopment agencies in California, including Menlo Park. We need more time to understand the local impact.”
TOWN OF WOODSIDE 2955 WOODSIDE ROAD WOODSIDE, CA 94062 INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR COMMITTEES BICYCLE COMMITTEE Meets third Thursday of each month, 7:30 p.m.; appointed for two-year term. The Committee advises and recommends to the Town Council on the policies for planning, developing, maintaining, and usage of Town’s bikeways system. CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH COMMITTEE Meets fourth Monday of each month, 6:00 p.m.; appointed for two-year term. The Committee advises and assists the Town Council, Planning Commission, and staff on conservation, open space, noise, public services and facilities as pertaining to the elements of the Town’s General Plan. LIVESTOCK AND ANIMAL CONTROL COMMITTEE Meets fourth Wednesday of each month; 5:30 p.m.; appointed for two-year term. The Committee advises the Planning Director on applications for commercial stable permits, dog kennel permits, and exception requests to the private stable regulations. OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE Meets fourth Thursday of each month, 5:30 p.m.; appointed for two-year term. The Committee advises and assists the Town Council, Planning Commission and staff in implementing the policies and goals of the Open Space and Conservation elements of the General Plan, specifically with respect to acquisition and maintenance of conservation easements and open space preservation. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE Meets on call of Chair; appointed for two-year term. The Committee advises the Town Council and staff on issues of community public safety, including police and fire services provided within the Town. RECREATION COMMITTEE Meets first Thursday of each month, 7:30 p.m.; appointed for three-year term. The Committee guides the activities of the community recreation programs. TRAILS COMMITTEE Meets second Thursday of each month, 3:00 p.m.; appointed for two-year term. The Committee reviews land divisions, subdivisions and conditional use permits for locations for equestrian, pedestrian and bicycle trails and makes recommendations to the staff and to the Planning Commission. WOODSIDE HISTORY COMMITTEE Meets second Thursday of each month, 10:00 a.m.; appointed for two-year term.
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The Committee advises the Town Council and staff regarding actions, policies and plans relating to historic preservation. Committees are volunteer positions and serve in an advisory capacity to the Town Council. Interested residents may request information and applications Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-12 noon and 1-5:00 p.m., from the Town Clerk’s Office at Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Road, or telephone (650) 851-6790, or through the Town’s web site at www.woodsidetown.org. Deadline for applications is Friday, January 20, 2012, 5:00 p.m. January 4, 2012 N The Almanac N 9