Lucy Reed Garretson Selby

Lucy Reed Garretson Selby died peacefully Wednesday after battling lung cancer and congestive heart failure. Five days before Christmas 1936, Lucy was born to Mary and Robert Garretson, then of Oak Park, IL. She spent much of her childhood in Chagrin Falls, OH, outside Cleveland, attending Abbot Academy in Massachusetts before attaining a bachelor's degree in English literature from Radcliffe College in 1958. A gifted pianist, she enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Music in London. While there, she met a winsome Canadian studying classical languages. She and Henry Selby were wed in 1960, moving a year later with their infant son, Gardner, to Palo Alto, CA, where Henry enrolled in the anthropology doctoral program at Stanford University. Lucy gave birth to Mary Theadosia in 1963. Two summers later, the family moved to a Zapotec village outside Oaxaca, Mexico for 12 months of field work. The family was completed with Thomas in 1967. Lucy started work on her own doctorate in anthropology by the late 1960s. Lucy finished her dissertation in 1972, living through and chronicling the women's liberation movement in Austin. For five years, Lucy lived in Philadelphia and nearby Bala-Cynwyd. She taught courses at Temple University in everything from the theory of evolution to witchcraft to women's studies. The family returned to Austin in 1977. Henry rejoined the University of Texas's anthropology department while Lucy became research director of the Austin American-Statesman, a post she held for 11 years, during which she helped launch the Statesman Capitol 10,000. Lucy embraced politics. She helped in Ann Richards' 1990 gubernatorial campaign, moving to the Sam Houston Building during Richards' administration. At the time, she composed a puckish poem on the perils of fielding correspondence on the governor's behalf. She later helped Kirk Watson ascend to mayor and Brigid Shea and Daryl Slusher win City Council seats. Lucy also embraced cultural adventure, slapping Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Thelonius Monk on the turntable, serving on the board of Austin Ballet Theater and occasionally joining friends for a night with Austin's Uranium Savages; she even put up with one son's insistence on repeated listens to Joe Ely. Into the '70s, she teased her naturally bright red kinky curls into a tall Afro that she later sheared somewhat but never entirely tamed. Throughout her life, Lucy relished conversation, bringing to bear her incandescent intellect, barbed wit and a faith in her convictions that daunted those who differed. Her engagement in nearly any discussion was heartfelt, her advice treasured. Her husband called her "a truth teller"; a granddaughter said Lucy "wasn't about to lie to make you happy." She was a voracious reader (she once finished the Tolkien trio, "Lord of the Rings" in two days), played solitaire past midnights, and had an artful, inspiring way in her kitchen, making Sunday dinner a feast of thanks for those fortunate to sit at her table. She rarely babysat her grandkids, but insisted on yielding them as many desserts as they could request. She loved the ocean, whether by Cape Cod, off the coast of southern France or near Port Aransas in the brunt of summer. Once in the water, she bodysurfed or swam among the waves. In the past few years, Lucy survived pneumonia and gave up smoking. She also discovered and explored her talent as a potter. Her colorful butter dishes and mailbox on Ramona Street stirred talk of a manufacturing business. Her playful sculptures, many tinged with deviltry, will be wrestled over by family and friends. One creation is part of a towering totem on display at Clayways, her studio away from home. Lucy was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Gardner, of Venice, CA. She is survived by her sister, Helen, of Boston, MA; her husband, Henry; children, Gardner and his wife Kaye Schultz of Austin, Theadosia and her husband Robert Johnstone of San Francisco and Thomas and his wife Deirdre Doyle of Arlington, VA. Other survivors include six grandchildren, Brendan, Beck, Grace, Jordan, Brose and Anna; her nephew, Sean Berkley and his wife Aida Valeria of Austin, and their son, Santiago. A Memorial Service is scheduled at 4:00 P.M., Sunday, July 11, 2004 at her home, 2000 Sharon Lane. In place of flowers, donations to the Lucy Garretson Scholarship Fund, Clayways Pottery and Studio, 5442 Burnet Road, Austin, 78756 would be welcomed.