Collette Wood

Collette Wood, 70, Program Director and Executive Director with the Boys and Girls Club of Desert Hot Springs and a former journalist with the Hollywood Reporter where she covered theatre, television and wrote a feature column, died Friday, October 1, 2010 after a long battle with lung cancer. Wood, who also worked for many years as a freelance journalist with the Desert Sun Newspaper and the Los Angeles Times, also served as a book reviewer for West Coast Book Review. She previously worked as a publicist with Universal Studios, United Artists, MGM and Columbia Studios and was partnered for several years with publicist Maria LaMagra in LaMagra & Wood Public Relations. She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Allen Wood; daughter Renee and two grandchildren, Brayhna Basingame and Danielle Daniels. Memorial service will be held 3:30 p.m. on Friday, October 15, 2010 at First Baptist Church, 1st and Cactus Street in Desert Hot Springs. Donations can be made to the Boys & Girls Club of Desert Hot Springs, 66150 8th St., Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240 or People Helping People U.S.A, 67555 E. Palm Canyon Dr., Suite 113F & 114F, Cathedral City, CA 92234.