Bruce Marshall Steinberg

Bruce Marshall Steinberg completed his extraordinary life early December 30th in Santa Cruz, California after a brief illness. He was 64.

Bruce was born May 17, 1943 in Queens, New York to Emily Cowan and Arthur Steinberg. Bruce began acting at a young age using the name Bruce Marshall, performing as a regular on NBC's the Children's Hour on of the earliest children's shows on television, produced by Horn & Hardart the Automat. He also recorded for Disney, costarred in the short lived television series "Jamie" with Brandon DeWilde and performed in theater with actors such as Burgess Meredith. Concurrently, Bruce was a dedicated ham radio operator and, by the age of twelve, had his own call sign: N6LZ.

Bruce attended the School for Performing Arts eventually transferring to Stuyvesant High School to pursue his love of science and engineering. Bruce entered Cornell University's Engineering program at the age of 16. He excelled academically but was equally proud of being on the varsity rowing team.

After receiving his BEE, he went directly to Cape Kennedy and the Apollo One program where he worked as a PCM Telemetry Field Engineer. Intrigued by the emerging music scene in San Francisco, he moved to California in the summer of 1966 and worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer for the Mariner Mars Program at Berkeley's Space Science Lab before leaving the engineering field to document the San Francisco Bay Area rock and roll and funk scene.

Bruce shot a series of photos of Janis Joplin, catching her enigmatic personality so well, that Warner signed him on as on of their photographers and album cover designers. His impressive list of rock, funk and jazz album credits include Tower of Power, Azteca, Santana, It's a Beautiful Day, Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Link Wray, The Pointer Sisters, John Lee Hooker, Lee Ritenour, Eddie Henderson and countless other groups and performers from the 1960s, 70s and beyond. An accomplished blues harp player, Bruce would occasionally sit in with the bands and even recorded with Its A Beautiful Day and also drummer James Levi and bassist Paul Jackson.

In the late 1960s he also shot a breathtaking series of photos of the Bay Bridge workers, fearlessly accompanying them on the high cable lines to get the best possible shots.

In 1983 Bruce moved to Santa Cruz and worked for ten years with Santa Cruz Operations SCO as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications. After leaving SCO, he worked as a marketing consultant and writer, continuing to take photographs of everything along the way.

Due to increased public interest and a desire to return to his most satisfying work, Bruce began to show his photography again, leading to representation by the San Francisco Art Exchange www.sfae.com and Rush Creek Editions www.rushcreekeditions.com. He also developed and recently launched his own website www.brucesteinberggallery.com where his work can also be viewed.

Bruce was an inveterate traveler. He made enduring friendships through his travels as well as virtually through Internet connections and discussion forums covering a myriad of topics. He was a brilliant artist, extraordinary photographer, and a talented, intelligent writer. However, his greatest joy was as a devoted father, grandfather and friend.

Bruce is survived by his children, Cheyenne Young and Jenny Roth, their spouses and his beloved granddaughter, Teagan. He is also survived by his long time partner and companion Annie Van Brunt, his co-parent Adrienne Young, and close friend Patricia Rain. His memory is kept alive thru the love and admiration of his numerous friends around the world. A celebration of his life will be held in early February.

Donations to help cover his memorial and unforeseen costs are greatly appreciated. Please make checks payable to the Bruce M. Steinberg Memorial Fund c/o J. Roth 4360 Diamond St. #2 Capitola, Ca. 95010.