My friend Bess Christensen died on October 22, 2011. Bess had just turned 95. During her short illness, she had people she loved with her. She discovered new food to enjoy, and she told funny stories to cheer up her friends who came to visit.
Bess was a woman of great strength and integrity who made a positive difference in our community. She did it by attending meetings and researching issues. As a former employee of Random House Dictionary, she was particularly good at that. (She always got a kick out of making corrections to my writings.) She asked questions and didn’t stop until she felt she had all the information needed on a given subject.
Her house was overflowing with books, on the floor and tables because all her bookcases were full. She was interested in everything, so a conversation with her was lively, informative, and filled with more facts than you could digest in one setting. She could go into her office and return with the minutes of a meeting that took place 20 years ago, or a newspaper article she’d read in the Los Angeles Times in 1960. She had the ability to remember where, when, and what happened at any given time. And she was always right.