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Merla Zellerbach, née Myrle Carmel Burstein, was born in San Francisco in 1930, the daughter of Rabbi Elliot M. and Lottie Burstein. While attending Stanford University, she met and soon thereafter married Stephen Zellerbach. They had one child, son Gary. Her literary, civic and philanthropic work began at the time of her first marriage. By the time of her death on December 26, 2014, she authored 13 well reviewed novels and five self-help medical books, was a panelist for six years on the ABC TV show Oh My Word, and a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Subsequently, she was Editor of the Nob Hill Gazette for 12 years. Charities she supported and/or worked for included Compassion and Choices, the Coalition on Homelessness San Francisco, the Kidney Foundation, and a dozens more. Her death has taken on the focus of her most important cause later in life, the “Death with Dignity” movement, spearheaded by the non-profit group, Compassion and Choices. As an advocate and rallying point for this movement, to allow terminally ill patients to choose their time of death (under a strictly defined and controlled process), she generated considerable press and publicity and contributed greatly to the momentum embracing a change in the law. ==Personal life== Merla Zellerbach attended San Francisco's Grant Grammar School, was vice president of the student body at Lowell High School, and studied psychology at Stanford University. Her marriage to Stephen Zellerbach ended after 18 years in an amicable divorce. Her second husband for 26 years was TV and radio commentator Fred Goerner, author of “The Search for Amelia Earhart.” He died of cancer in 1994. Four years later, at the home of Merla's close friends Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum, she married former Crown-Zellerbach executive and longtime Civil Service and Library Commissioner Lee Munson. They remained married until her death. Merla's father, Rabbi Elliot Burstein, led Congregation Beth Israel (now Beth Israel Judea) in San Francisco. Her mother, Lottie, helped out at her husband's temple and found a creative outlet by performing dramatic readings of plays. Merla's sister, Devera Kettner, was an actress (under the screen name Devera Burton), and her brother Sandor Burstein was a doctor. Merla Zellerbach took the last name of her first husband, Stephen Zellerbach (whose great-grandfather started the Zellerbach Paper Company in 1870, later known as Crown-Zellerbach Corporation) and kept the name the rest of her life, since she was known by it professionally. In the 1960s, diagnosed with breast cancer, she had a double mastectomy. Merla spoke about it openly, as well as being a longtime supporter of breast cancer research. Long time friend and philanthropist Roselyne "Cissie" Swig, whose late husband was chairman of the Fairmont Hotel Management Co., said Zellerbach has spent years doing good works for friends and the community, often in understated ways. "Whatever she's done, she's done it with integrity."〔 Lois Lehrman, publisher of the Nob Hill Gazette, called Zellerbach "the consummate lady" and said it was invaluable to have someone around who knows San Francisco "backwards and forwards, from the inside out." 〔 Zellerbach died at age 84 in the Presidio Terrace house she occupied for 60 years. She is survived by her husband, Lee Munson, brother Sandor Burstein and his wife, Elizabeth, son Gary Zellerbach, daughter-in-law Linda Zellerbach, and two grandchildren, Laura and Randy Zellerbach. She was predeceased by her sister, Devera Kettner.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merla Zellerbach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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