Marin Women's Hall of Fame

         Alice Yarish  looks at  life with  a twinkle in her eye.  At any moment you expect  her to  wink at  you and  tell you  a good story. For  telling stories, reporting on life, is for what Alice Yarish is best known.  As  a crusader  for honesty  in government practices  and  as  a  writer  unafraid  to  handle controversial subjects, Alice  has made  a contribution  to our  lives in Marin County.

        Alice's roots  were not traditional ones, in that her mother was the first woman to  practice  law  in  the  state  of Nevada.   Previous  to  admittance  to  the  bar,  her  mother  had  been a journalist and the editor of a newspaper.  Alice's father  was an attorney and  later a judge.  In fact, Alice can point to sixteen family members who  have  been  attorneys,  four  of  whom became judges.     When  her  family  relocated from Goldfield, Nevada to Redondo Beach, California in 1918.  After some tough years trying to  master  the  art  of California farming, Alice's family moved back into the legal  profession.   At Redondo  Beach High School, Alice served  as the  high school  correspondent for the South Bay Breeze.  During the 1932  Summer  Olympics  in  Los  Angeles, she covered the  women's events  for the  Los Angeles Express.  After she  finished  high  school,  Alice  attended  the  University of Southern California.

        Her parents  encouraged her  to take  a course of study that would not lead her into the fields most often reserved for women, those of  teacher or  nurse.   In fact, Alice credits her parents with developing her intense interest in reading and writing.  She continued her  interest in journalism and reported for the U.S.C.Daily  Trojan.      Tuition  money  provided  from  an unexpected inheritance arrived  at a  good time  - the economic realities of the Great Depression almost stopped  her  education.    Alice was able to  finish college.   But, graduating from U.S.C. during the height of the  Great  Depression,  Alice  spent  three  years job hunting.   Finding her  efforts fruitless,  Alice enrolled in law school at Southwestern  University,  following  the  family legal tradition.   With the  death of her parents during the final year of law  school, the  money ran  out.    Eventually Alice supported herself   as   a   social   worker   with  the  Emergency  Relief Administration, employment that lasted for five years.

        In 1942, Alice married.   "Romance reared its ugly head," she quips.  She married an Air Force man. Peter Yarish, who was later transferred to  Marin's  Hamilton  Air  Force  Base  in  the late 1940's.    It would be ten very long years of enforced domesticity raising four children and "being a  military wife"   before Alice was able  to return to journalism again.  In 1952, after her four children were in school, Alice got her first  full-time reporting job at  the age  of forty-three,  as a reporter on the San Rafael Independent Journal.  Three years later, moved on to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and  later  the  Novato  Advance.    She then established the  Marin News Bureau in 1962, and wrote for the San Francisco Examiner,  in 1970, Alice  became the  assistant editor of the Pacific Sun.  Her "beat" was the local courtroom, covering trials, the activities of the district attorney and  the criminal justice system,  the county  Board of Supervisors and San Quentin prison.

        Her beat led her to cover  some  of  the  most  famous local legal  stories  of  recent  years.    Alice  had thought she was familiar with San Quentin Prison, then a maximum  security facility for  the  state  of  California.    She thought she knew about San Quentin from things she had seen  while  a  guest  of  the prison administration.   Receiving permission  from the  prison and from "famous" inmate George Jackson for an interview - the first from the "conventional  press" to  accomplish this assignment - Yarish felt an  immediate  rapport  with  Jackson.     They  became close friends.

        Through their  association, Yarish began writing pieces that revealed San Quentin as  the "tough,  mean place"  it really was. She became an advocate for prison reform, often using information about  prison  injustices  that   Jackson   provided.     Alice's friendship  with  Jackson  and  Jackson's prison-celebrity status combined to make access to  other  prisoners  easier,  as Jackson told his  fellow inmates  that Yarish "could be trusted".  George Jackson was  becoming  an  irritant  to  prison  officials, often leading  protests  against  inhumane  prison  practices.   Yarish states that Jackson once told her, "They'll never  let me  out of here alive."  In August of 1971,  He was killed in San Quentin by guards.

        Alice used her former link to Jackson to speak with  the six defendants implicated  in related  prison murders  - known as the "San  Quentin   Six"   -   during   their   sixteen-month  trial. Advocating  for  flexibility  and  courteous  recognition  of the humanity of ail persons  involved, Alice  was able  to decipher a difficult,  emotional  situation  and  explain it to the public. This type of maverick journalism was to become her trademark.

        The year following the  San Quentin  Six Trial,  she wrote a three-part  piece  on  the  Marin  County  Drug  Abuse Bureau, an adjunct  of  the  Marin  County  Sheriff's  Office.    Staffed by narcotic  law  enforcement  personnel,  its  duty was to get drug pushers out of Marin and keep them out.   Tipped  off by  a judge concerned with  the conduct  of the  narcotics officers  and by a friend of George Jackson, she learned that the  Drub Abuse Bureau was  planting  evidence,  stealing drugs, and coercing witnesses- all to build up their arrest records.  Yarish exposed examples of corruption,  entrapment,  coercion  and  incompetence  within  the bureau.  Matters worsened when two  informers were  murdered.  At one point,  Alice feared  for her own life.  Yet, the politicians and the police were never able to  deny or  disprove the accusations leveled in Yarish's articles.

        As  a  result,  Alice's  impeccable  research into the court records and her series of articles  single-handedly brought about the bureau's  abolition by  unanimous action  of the Marin County Board of  Supervisors.   The creation  of a  new drug enforcement entity now  operates under  the surveillance of a review board of elected officials and city managers.  Again, she  was fearless in her advocacy  of justice. In 1973, Alice Yarish was awarded first prize for "Best Story in a Bay Area  Paper" by  the San Francisco Press Club in recognition of her articles on the Marin Drug Abuse Bureau.

        Other  news  areas  she  covered  were  local  politics  and government, general  investigative pieces,  the burgeoning hippie scene ("I was the  first  to  write  kind  words  about  them and succeed in  getting them  published."), social commentary and her popular summer series on  "what's doing".   Always  she sought to bring  to   her  writing  issues  not  covered  in  general  news publications.  Her style was always  effected by  her conscience.  She often  raised questions that many did not want to have asked. For example, she inquired about the traffic arrest  procedures in Sausalito and  illegal entry  complaints by the San Rafael police department.  Alice prided herself in  bringing forward  the voice of  the  people  often  not  represented,  namely  the  poor, the disenfranchised, and the local underdogs.  One person wrote, "She stuck up  for the  people who  couldn't speak up for themselves." As a result, Yarish frequently  inspired  others  to  take social action and to speak out on important matters.

         Alice's life  has had many rewards.  She had the opportunity to meet people like John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Adiai Stevenson.  She employed Barbara Boxer at one time as a writer covering the local Board of Supervisors.  Obviously, Boxer learned many  valuable lessons  while on  this assignment, as she went on to become a county  supervisor.   Now serving  as Marin's representative to the U.S. Congress, Boxer is now running for the United States Senate  [Yarish hopes that she  wins!].   Alice has also met  other distinguished people during her long career, such as Beverly Sills,  Jessica  Mitford,  Maya  Angelou,  Alex Haley, Frank  Lloyd  Wright  and  others.    In  addition,  she  had the satisfaction  of   successfully   co-chairing   Michael  Wornum's successful bid for the California State Assembly in 1976.

         Alice "retired"  from the  Pacific Sun  in 1977 and from the Examiner, her last affiliation, in 1982 at the age of 73.  It was said  that  the  wardens  around  the state were grateful for her decision.  But others, especially those who thought  of Yarish as "Ms. Marin"  - one  whose viewpoint they trusted - considered her retirement from the news business as a loss.

         Alice immediately  embarked on  a short  career in antiques. She also  wrote a book. Growing Old Disgracefully - Adventures of a Maverick  Journalist (not  yet published).   In  1986 Alice was chosen as the Grand Marshall for the San Anselmo Country Fair Day Parade.   She  started  the  parade  off  riding  in  a recently- purchased red  convertible.   She has  enjoyed taking her friends out for a cruise along San  Rafael's  Fourth  Street.     She even drove the  car down to Redondo Beach for her sixtieth high school reunion; she took all her friends out for a ride.

        In recent  years,  Yarish  returned  to  her  native Nevada, where  she  assisted  her  niece  in  her  campaign  for the U.S. Congress.  She served two active terms as a founder and member of Marin Advocates  for Justice, where "her compassionate spirit was legendary".    She  has  been  active   with  numerous  community organizations around Marin.  She served two terms on the county's Adult Criminal Justice Commission.  Alice  was also  on the board of directors  of the Marin Association for Mental Health for many years.  She has received two commendations from  the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

        Alice  Yarish,  with  characteristic good humor, defines her age as "chronologically  advanced".   She   frequently  writes to letters  to  the  editor  "and  others  in  need of my advice" on important  issues, ...still  vocal  and  still  active.  Alice continues her  trademark of wearing distinctive hats and jewelry.  She loves to spice  her speech  with "salty"  language, sometimes shocking  people  who  hold  a  more  conventional view of senior citizens.  She  enjoys  sailing,  reading,   travel,  baseball, football, parties, theater, and stained glass work.  She attempts to relish life each  day, and  celebrates each  afternoons with a glass of champagne around four o'clock. With typical  candor Alice  states, "I  have a  good time all the time, every day.  I don't  want to  grow old  sitting around.   I think  old  people  should  preserve  a  sense  of  playfulness."  Dorothy Hughes, a friend and associate  of Alice  Yarish for many years was once quoted as saying:  "....her endless search for justice has kept her humane in an occupation that often leads to cynicism. Alice may look  and talk tough, but at heart she's one of the kindest, most generous people I know - even though she won't like my saying that. 'it will ruin my reputation!' she'll say."

        Alice, now  eighty-three, shares  her home  with a family of Chinese who take care of her.  "I love them like my family," she says.   She has two sons in Marin and a son and daughter who live in Brookings, Oregon.

*  Note:  in July of 1992, Alice suffered a serious  car accident at the  age of  eighty-three, and her beloved red convertible was demolished.  Although she suffered a  broken ankle  and shoulder, she considered the loss of her car as the worst blow.