Dorothy M. Whitnah

San Francisco Chronicle, 30 March 2001


WHITNAH, Dorothy M. -- On Mar. 2, 2001, at home in Emeryville after a lengthy illness. Born in Portland, Oregon, to Irma Wullenwaber Lupher and David Lupher. Graduated Catlin School, Portland, 1943; attended Smith College 1943-45; received BA, 1948, and MLS, 1952, from UC Berkeley. Married to the late Roderick McGregor 1947-58. Life member: Sierra Club and Tamalpais Conservation Club; honorary member and executive secretary (1962-70): Book Club of California; lifetime fellow and former president (1980-82): Gleeson Library Associates, USF. Feminist and bibliophile, she was the ideal choice to 'integrate' the formerly all-male Roxburghe Club of San Francisco in 1980. Dorothy Whitnah was as gifted an editor as she was a writer, translating her joy in hiking the Bay Area's trails into graceful prose in several books including 'Point Reyes' and editing others' work with as much tact as skill. The many who mourn her would agree that exceeding even those attributes was her remarkable capacity for friendship. Not only did she remain close to high school and college friends but also continued until the end of her life to make new friends. Her friends and her beloved godchildren, Jason and Caroline Winnett, are unlikely ever to hear a Dave McKenna rift, watch a 49er game, or vote for a Democrat without remnmbering her with tenderness. Private services were held. Donations to Amnesty International, Audubon Society, Breast Cancer Action, Sierra Club, and St. Anthony's Dining Room.