Marilyn McMahon, a Santa Barbara News-Press features writer and a fixture at the now-defunct paper for 48 years, died at her home across from the Mission on August 24.
McMahon began her News-Press career in 1975 and filed her last story in May. After a bad fall that month, her family said, she nonetheless began talking about returning to work, but that was before Wendy McCaw, the disgraced News-Press owner and co-publisher, filed for bankruptcy on July 21.
McMahon was born Marilyn Kwiatkowski in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 8, 1930. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from the University of Wisconsin in 1952 and taught high school English for 23 years, mostly in Santa Barbara. But she loved working at the News-Press best, in the days when the paper was a dynamic expression of community life. McMahon became known for her profiles of movers and shakers, celebrity actors, book authors, chefs, politicians, and TV personalities, and she spotlighted the accomplishments of everyday folks, too. Her Rolodex contained the phone numbers of 450 people.