Laurie Saunders

1948 - 2019

Laurie Saunders

1948-2019

Laurie Saunders, generous, acerbic, brave and witty, died Friday, July 5, at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. She was 71 and for five years had successfully staved off a rare and tenacious cancer.
She had a ferocious and wide-ranging intelligence, a love for travel and the arts, and a blazing sense of social justice.
Having earned BA, MA and Candidate in Philosophy degrees in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley, she spent 20 years in academia, teaching at UC Berkeley, Saint Mary's College in Moraga and at California State Universities in Sacramento and San Francisco.
In 1996 she received a law degree from Hastings College of the Law and embarked on a quest for justice for those accused of crimes, a quest that ended only with her death. After a stint working with the Mendocino County Public Defender's Office in Ukiah, for the last ten years she represented inmates at parole hearings at San Quentin, California State Prison Solano and the notorious Pelican Bay facility. Her goal was that every inmate receive a fair hearing and the chance to make the best case before the California Department of Corrections Board of Parole. This could be thankless work, but Laurie's dedication to her inmate clients in difficult locations and circumstances was universally respected by her colleagues as well as those she represented.
The cancer diagnosis and treatments barely slowed down her extensive travels. Favorite destinations were New Zealand, London, Iceland, Edinburgh, Hawaii, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Australia. "I went everywhere I wanted to go," she said,"and if I loved it I went twice."
Accompanied by friends, she enthusiastically attended an array of cultural activities-- theater, concerts, readings and dance performances. In all cases the more experimental, the better she liked it. Laurie was sometimes critical (and her criticism could sting!), but it was always combined with awe and appreciation for the creative impulse. An avid lover of words, especially when employed with eloquence and bite, she served as an advisor to The Metaphor Project, founded in 1997 to assist progressive social activists in framing mainstream messages.
Laurie is survived by her daughter Annie Saunders and son Raphael Knapp, sister Bobbie Saunders, nephew Randy Fish and her close circle of long time loyal friends.
Donations in Laurie's name may be made to The Metaphor Project, PO Box 892, Orinda, CA 94563 or online at metaphorproject.org/donate/
A Memorial Gathering is planned for Sunday, September 15 at 2:00 pm at the Berkeley City Club.