{{short description|American author and columnist (1926–2020)}} {{Infobox writer | name = Beth Ashley | embed = | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Beth Ashley 90th birthday.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Ashley at her 90th birthday | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1926|05|21}} | birth_place = United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|05|01|1926|05|21}} | death_place = Corte Madera, California, U.S. | resting_place = | occupation = Columnist, author | language = English | education = | alma_mater = Stanford University | period = | genre = <!-- or: | genres = --> | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notableworks = <!-- or: | notablework = --> | spouse = Roland Fellows | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit --> }} '''Beth Ashley''' (May 21, 1926 – May 1, 2020)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-05 |title=Beth Ashley, grande dame of Marin County journalism, dies at 93 |url=https://www.marinij.com/2020/05/04/beth-ashley-grand-dame-of-marin-county-journalism-dies-at-93/ |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=Marin Independent Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> was an American author and columnist. She wrote for the ''Marin Independent Journal'' for over 60 years. In remarks before the United States House of Representatives, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey stated "Beth Ashley's work has expressed the heart and soul of Marin County."<ref name="congress.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2009/06/03/extensions-of-remarks-section/article/E1287-3|title=Congressional Record|website=Congress.gov|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beth Ashley, grande dame of Marin County journalism, dies at 93 |date=5 May 2020 |url=https://www.marinij.com/2020/05/04/beth-ashley-grand-dame-of-marin-county-journalism-dies-at-93/ |publisher=Marin Independent Journal |accessdate=16 July 2020}}</ref>
==Early years== Beth Ashley was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father was an investment banker, who moved Ashley and her family to Belvedere, California in order to assist in running a shipyard in Marin County in August 1941. She was enrolled in Tamalpais High School in 1942 and 1943.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tamdistrict.org/Page/2285|title=History / Beth Ashley Remembers|website=Tamdistrict.org|accessdate=24 December 2017|archive-date=27 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827075612/https://www.tamdistrict.org/Page/2285|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Ashley was an alumna of Stanford University, where she was the editor of the campus newspaper, the ''Stanford Daily'', and graduated with a major in journalism in 1946.
==Career== She moved to Paris, and later worked for a magazine, and for the United States Department of State as a public affairs officer in Germany in 1949. She joined the staff of the ''Marin Independent Journal'' in 1951, and wrote over 1200 columns for the newspaper.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/fashion/weddings/13vows.html|title=Beth Ashley and Rowland Fellows|date=13 September 2009|website=The New York Times|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinmagazine.com/July-2009/Beth-Ashley/|title=Beth Ashley – Marin Magazine – July 2009 – Marin County, California|website=Marinmagazine.com|date=18 June 2009|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref>
Ashley not only focused her writing on life in Marin County, but also on her wide-ranging travels outside the US, including Afghanistan, Russia, and Iran.<ref name="congress.gov"/>
She is the subject of a tribute by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey placed in the Congressional Record. Woolsey praised Ashley's "passionate and thoughtful writing that has made her a community institution."<ref name="congress.gov"/>
==Books== Ashley was the author of two books, one being a compilation of her columns for the ''Marin IJ'' titled ''Since You Asked'', the name of her long-running column.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookpassage.com/event/beth-ashley-you-asked-corte-madera|title=Beth Ashley – Since You Asked (Corte Madera)|website=Bookpassage.com|date=10 October 2016|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref> A book on Marin County titled ''Marin'', with photos by Hal Lauritzen, was released in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Beth-Ashley/e/B001KHNSIS|title=Amazon.com: Beth Ashley: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle|website=Amazon.com|accessdate=24 December 2017}}</ref>
==Personal life== She raised five sons, from two marriages, and lived in Greenbrae, California from 1959.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20171120/FEATURES/171129988|title=Children, the most cherished part of life|website=Marinij.com|accessdate=24 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223215837/http://www.marinij.com/article/NO/20171120/FEATURES/171129988|archive-date=23 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> She married retired IBM engineer Roland Fellows in 2009.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Beth}} Category:1926 births Category:2020 deaths Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American women journalists Category:21st-century American journalists Category:21st-century American women journalists Category:American women columnists Category:American essayists Category:Tamalpais High School alumni Category:Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni Category:People from Greenbrae, California Category:Writers from Marin County, California