Yolo-Los Angeles County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....KUNITZ , Donald  June 4 2002
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Peggy B. Perazzo pbperazzo@comcast.net August 24, 2004, 11:38 pm

"The Davis Enterprise," Monday, June 10, 2002
Donald Kunitz

Davis resident Donald Kunitz died of complications from surgery on June 4, 2002,
in Sacramento. He was 74.

Born in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, 1928, he did his undergraduate training at UC Los
Angeles and earned master's degrees from UCLA in library science, University of
Southern California in history and Carnegie-Mellon in printing management and
graphics. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and was stationed at
Fort Ord.

He was chairman of Special Collections at Shields Library from 1965 until his
retirement in 1991.

A most beloved, erudite, multifaceted and entertaining man-about-town, he will
be remembered for his wit and intelligence and ability to discourse with both
depth and humor on almost any subject. He had an insatiable memory for seemingly
everything that ever happened not only in his own life, but in his boundless
reading.

His specialties included anything to do with books and literature (poetry in
particular), film, history, sociology, leftist and literary movements, the beat
generation, the hippies, and Los Angeles, among other topics. His appreciation
of movies may have begun as a result of growing up in the thick of the Hollywood
scene.

He remembered every film he ever attended, every character and actor, every
cinematographic achievement -- the subtler the better.

After marriage to Charlene Robbins, whom he met while they were both
undergraduates at UCLA, he headed for Pittsburgh, Penn., to attend
Carnegie-Mellon. His first job was as production manager for the journal of the
American Academy of General Practice in Kansas City, Mo. The couple stayed in
the Midwest until 1960, when the urge to return to California became too great
to resist.

Back in Los Angeles, he earned his UCLA library science master's degree, but
chose not to stay in a city that had become less livable than the pre-war one he
remembered. He was always a fount of information about the Los Angeles of the
1930s and '40s, and could hold forth in captivating detail with reminiscences
about its atmosphere, as well as its neighborhoods and politics.

In 1963, he and his family moved to Davis, where in 1965 he became head of
Special Collections at UC Davis' Shields Library. The job was perfectly suited
to his temperament and passions.

Growing up in South-central L.A., he acquired street smarts very naturally. But
he also grew up in a bookish household, where his father spoke four languages
and refused for a long time to get a telephone --not a television, but a
telephone -- because he feared it would interfere with the family's reading.

One of his earliest jobs after college was as a taxi-driver "to the stars" (as
well as to anyone else who hailed him). He appreciated the work because in
addition to giving him needed income and a scintillating proximity to the movie
industry, he could read during quiet moments on the job.

And reading is of course what a librarian loves most -- reading and all that
goes with it: collecting, poring over old editions, setting up exhibits, acting
as auctioneer at library sales and, on occasion, serving as the rare book and
manuscript authority on PBS' "Antiques Road Show."

At Special Collections, he acquired for Shields not only rare ancient works,
such as first editions of the 18th century French "Encyclopedists," but also
modern first editions that will gather great value in the course of time. His
expertise extended to building collections in the fields of enology and
agricultural machinery as well as in the humanities.

Much as he excelled at his profession, he really came into his own in
retirement. He loved his new-found freedom to visit seminars on campus, drop in
at poetry readings, films and lectures, have long intellectual lunches with
friends, serve on the board of the Educart Foundation and listen to BBC on his
short-wave radio.

And if there was a book fair in San Francisco, he would be there, even if he had
to arrive during a rainstorm.

He will be missed by all those in the Davis community who loved his delightful
insights, his mastery of both an erudite vocabulary and snappy colloquialism;
his latest joke, profound observation and brilliant turn of phrase.

A devoted family man, he is survived by Charlene, his wife of nearly 48 years;
daughters Judith Kunitz Linnard of Berkeley and Mela Kunitz of Portland, Ore.;
son-in-law Loren Linnard; and grandson Dean Linnard.

He is also survived by his brothers-in-law and sister-in-law Bernie and Barbara
Robbins of Hermose Beach and Harold Robbins of Santa Monica; nephew Mark Robbins
of Santa Monica; and niece Lisa Robbins Paps of Paris, France. Other survivors
include Josie Abrams of New York; Bella and Bob Loeffler of Forest Hills, N.Y.;
Mike and Helene Conant of Kensington; Steve and Izzie Kunitz of Rochester, N.Y.;
and Anita and Ralph Segalman of Northridge.

A memorial service will begin at 10 a.m. Friday, July 5, at the Unitarian Church
of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, Davis.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his name to
the charity of the donor's choice.


Additional Comments:
Submitted with the permission of the "The Davis Enterprise," 315 G Street,
Davis, CA 95616.

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