ESTRELLITA KARSH

Estrellita Karsh, 95, of Boston, died peacefully, of natural causes at her home in Boston, surrounded by close friends and beloved caregivers. She was a brilliant, formidable soul, who never ceased to search for ways she could improve the lives of others. Anyone who was fortunate enough to meet her would know that she was a big personality in a tiny package - ebullient, joyful, energetic, and fun, with a great sense of humour and strong opinions. Despite the lofty world in which she travelled, she was down to earth and enjoyed close relationships with everyone she found to be genuine, whether a celebrity or a salesperson. Estelle Nachbar, known for most of her life as Estrellita Karsh, left her childhood home in New Jersey at the age of 16 for Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. After graduating in 1952 with a BA in English Literature, her passions for writing and medical history led her to Chicago to work for the distinguished physician, Dr. Walter C. Alvarez. As his medical editor, she helped him bring to millions of readers, through his syndicated column, the reassuring clinical wisdom and compassion that had made him a beloved and world-famous diagnostician at the Mayo Clinic. Estrellita had a knack for making difficult scientific concepts exciting and readable to the layperson, and collaborated with the doctor on his current best sellers. When Armenian born Canadian Yousuf Karsh arrived to photograph Dr. Alvarez, "Something else clicked beside the shutter." (Newsweek). On August 23, 1962, at a wedding officiated by Fulton J. Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Dr. Alvarez gave away the bride, and Yousuf and Estrellita blended their worlds, each adding a new dimension to the other. From that moment on, Estrellita was not just a devoted partner, she was a great champion of her husband's work. From 1982 to 1996, they lived in a third-floor suite at the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa (now known as the Karsh suite), and maintained a home called Little Wings in Ontario and an apartment and studio in Manhattan. Estrellita's editorial skills helped Yousuf bring form to his thoughts and her organizational and research skills were put to good use planning Yousuf's trips and schedules so that work was always complemented by new discoveries. On all their travels over the years – whether to Africa, Japan, Russia, Finland, Scandinavia, Egypt – they pursued their joint interests in archaeology, art, and medicine. In 1997, they moved to Boston, which Yousuf had always considered his "second home," and they became deeply involved in the Boston medical and cultural community. Estrellita continued to write articles and lecture on medical history, with her carefully concealed scholarship transforming research in old tomes into engaging and modern social history. They enjoyed theater and fine dining with friends, and were often found in the galleries of the Museum of Fine Arts. There, Estrellita and Yousuf founded the first prize for a student of photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, a lecture series bringing the world's preeminent photographers to Boston, and endowed several curatorial positions, all of which became the Karsh Center for Photography at the MFA. At Brigham and Women's Hospital, Estrellita volunteered her knowledge and interest in support of nursing, women's health, and neonatal intensive care. Inspired by her belief that art could ease the stress and anxiety felt by patients and family alike, Estrellita took great joy installing art at the Brigham – photographs by Mr. Karsh, work by students and faculty of the SMFA, and reproductions from the MFA's collection. A champion of nurses and nursing care, she endowed the Karsh Visiting Scholar Nursing Program and the Nora Donnelly Excellence in Nursing award at the Brigham. Her philanthropy was far reaching, with gifts of Yousuf's portraits not only to the MFA, Boston – which houses the finest collection and archive of his work – but also to the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Princeton University Art Museum, and the Boston Public Library, among others; she also endowed the Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Department of Emergency Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, supported the Women's Lunch Place in Boston, and the Harvard Medical Library. A collector in her own right, Estrellita was among the first Americans to collect Inuit art, which she delighted in exhibiting at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Estrellita leaves a close circle of devoted friends and caregivers, and a generation of young people touched by her interest and confidence in them. She will be remembered with love and gratitude by many. Mrs. Karsh will be interred in a private burial at Notre-Dame Cemetery in Ottawa; a memorial service will be held in Boston at a date to be announced.