Marilynn Saunders
Obituary

Marilynn Saunders, age 92, passed away peacefully on June 12 after a life devoted to learning, literature, music, and public service. She was the daughter of Charles Goldstein and Anna Greenspan and grew up in New York City alongside her siblings, Sidney Goldstein, a World War II veteran, and Edward Cole. In 1952, she married John T. Saunders, who predeceased her. She remained close throughout her life to his sister, Ann Willinger.

As a teen, her family moved to Los Angeles, where she attended Fairfax High and UCLA (BA, cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), and obtained a Master of Library Science degree. Marilynn was a voracious reader and lifelong learner with a love of languages, literature, theatre, art, music, philosophy, psychology, film, cookery, and costume. Her delights included the LA Philharmonic, and the works of Agatha Christie.

Her career as a reference librarian spanned more than 40 years at the Beverly Hills Public Library, where she became known for her remarkable research abilities, sharp intellect, and dedication to helping patrons and serving as a mentor to colleagues.

She will be remembered as a spirited and independent woman with sharp wit, curiosity, and a generous spirit. Her warmth, humor, and passion for knowledge enriched the lives of those who were fortunate to know her. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by her extended family, friends, colleagues, and all of the others whose lives she touched.

Before concluding this obituary, it’s only right to try to give Marilynn a chance to comment upon it as we think she might. She would say: “That’s nice, and thank you. But you missed any mention of what it was like to be me, 66 inches tall, and 100 pounds, full of thoughts I tended to keep to myself. The obituary you’ve written reads like an application for some boring job in the afterlife. You should mention what it was like to be my friend, how entertaining and exasperating that could be. You could mention the mysteries of my desire to own every single Agatha Christie work, to own hundreds of hats, and to relentlessly gather and file recipes from thousands of books, magazines, and newspapers. You left out anything about the way I could turn the process of buying a single muffin at Gelson’s into a 15-minute inquiry into the muffin’s design, creation, texture, taste, and aftertaste. You forgot to explain what was really unique about me, and what is now lost. Of course, none of us can truly explain that, even about ourselves. So, thank you.”