Laurence Dawson

Laurence Dawson July 10, 1920-December 4, 2007 Larry Dawson, environmental activist, documentary film maker, generous investor in independent weekly newspapers and cultural organizations, died Dec. 4, 2007, at Mir Mirou, his landmark home in Los Altos Hills. He was 87. A mid-Peninsula resident since 1953. He was a director of the San Jose Symphony for 25 years, former planning commissioner for the town of Los Altos Hills, trustee of Millbrook School in New York and board member of World Learning (formerly Experiment in International Living), and served in WWII as a Lt. Cmdr, USNR. Survivors include his devoted wife, Jimmie, his four children, as well as a number of step-children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Inurnment was private. The family requests donations in his memory to one of the following: World Learning, Kipling Rd., Brattleboro, VT, 05301; Millbrook School, 131 Millbrook School Rd., Millbrook NY 12545; Opera San Jose, 2149 Paragon Dr., San Jose, CA 95131; Pathways Hospice Foundation, 585 N. Mary Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94085; Peninsula Open Space Trust, 222 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94301; San Jose Rotary Club, 1690 Senter Rd., San Jose, CA 95112 or Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, 180 Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA 94104.