Saying goodbye to Elaine Larsen, look back and the Memorial

"Elaine Larsen April 21, 1962 - January 12, 2015. .... Her legacy reflects a high standard for journalism in the town she loved to cover. She came to love small-town journalism and its people.

Elaine Larsen
4/21/62 - 1/12/15

Larson was raised in Palo Alto and San Jose. After high school, she attended De Anza College, where she met her future husband, Jim Carson, who was teaching journalism at the school. She went on to earn a communications degree from U.C. Berkeley and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Right after graduate school, she went to Washington, D.C. to cover Congress for several Midwestern newspapers. Returning to the West Coast, she was hired by Pacifica Tribune Publisher Bill Drake in 1987 to cover education news. She worked her way through the newsroom, eventually covering every beat. From education, she went to the city hall beat and from there she was the police beat reporter. She loved police beat so much, she covered it for most of her 26 years at the Tribune. She left the Tribune in 2014."  Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, Staff, 1/20/15, "Former Tribune editor leaves lasting legacy of journalism." 

"Elaine Larsen.  An ongoing presence at the Pacifica Tribune for 26 years, Elaine Larsen brought her journalism skills and empathetic ear to community news that is hard to rival.  As a young reporter hired by then publisher and owner Bill Drake, Larsen learned the ins and outs of Pacifica, covering everything from politics to police.  

.... In 2013, she received a Community Hero award from Pacifica Community Television.  'What I am most proud of are all the stories we've published about people in town overcoming adversity or helping promote a worthy cause.  That's what makes the Tribune a true community newspaper'." Chris Hunter, "Legendary Locals of  Pacifica" (book),  Elaine Larsen, page 73.  Note: Chris Hunter worked for the Pacifica Tribune 27 years; in 1990  he become Editor and Publisher.  In 2007, Elaine Larsen followed Chris Hunter to become Editor and Publisher; she worked for the Pacifica Tribune 26 years.  (Of interest, also see, Pacifica Tribune/Elaine Larsen 12/31/13, reviewing Chris Hunter's "Legendary Locals: Pacifica" book.)

Related  -  Memorial, Saturday February 7, 2015, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., RSVP.   Pacifica Tribune Letters to the Editor -  2/4/15,  1/27/15,  1/20/15.    Facebook/Elaine Larsen. Fix Pacifica articles, search "Elaine Larsen".

Note:  photograph of Elaine Larsen from Twitter/Pacifica Chamber of Commerce, 1/12/15. " Sad news from the Pacifica Tribune: former publisher Elaine Larsen passed early this morning. RIP friend #Pacifica." 

Posted by Kathy Meeh