William Keidan Broder

William Keidan Broder (April 1, 1931-March 21, 2024)

Bill was born an April Fool in 1931 and, perhaps as a result, regarded the world with a light-heartedness, warmth, and sense of humor that buoyed everyone he encountered -- from friendships he maintained for more than eighty-seven years to the random stranger he encountered on his daily hikes on his beloved Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, Broder lettered in football, basketball, wrestling, and tennis at Cranbrook School, graduated from Columbia College in three years, and then served as an Officer in the Navy on a Destroyer in the South Pacific during the Korean War. Upon his return, he met the love of his life, Gloria, and the two were married until her death in 2013. Together, they attended graduate school at Stanford where Bill wrote and taught writing as a Teaching Assistant under Wallace Stegner and Richard Scowcroft. The newlyweds fell in love with California and settled in a rickety house nestled in the hills of Sausalito with a magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay. Professionally, Broder specialized in the writing, design, and production of educational materials for museums, schools, exhibitions, and publishing companies, eventually partnering with James Robertson to create The Amazing Life Games Company, which designed and produced early-learning and mathematics materials for teachers. Broder had several novels published and in 2011 launched The Ainslie Street Project as an archive for all of his works. Though most of his peers have passed, the outpouring of love his family has received from those who remain is a testament to his wisdom, kindness, and generosity of spirit. He is survived by two children, a son-in-law, a grandson, and his granddog, Pencil, who adored him.

Donations in Bill's memory can be made to The Marine Mammal Center (https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/) or the Sausalito Library Foundation (https://www.sausalitolibrary.org/about-us/library-foundation).