A celebration of life for former Oakland Tribune reporter and columnist Marina Gottschalk will take place at noon Jan. 28 in Pleasant Hill at Zio Fraedo’s restaurant.
Gottschalk, who died Dec. 26 at age 76, perhaps is best remembered for her part in the Tribune’s Action Line column. A resident of Contra Costa County, Gottschalk also worked for many years at Inform Public Relations/Dynamic Networking in Martinez after leaving the Tribune.
Janet Ghent, one of Gottschalk’s former colleagues, said Gottschalk was born in Shanghai, which had a sizable Jewish refugee community, and that the family arrived in San Francisco on Oct. 5, 1948, on the last ship out of Shanghai before the city fell to the Chinese communists in their war against the country’s nationalists.
Born just more than two years before that to Fritz and Irma Gottschalk on July 24, 1946, Marina Gottschalk went on to earn a bachelor’s degree before joining the Tribune as a copy editor in 1967 and working her way up the ranks. Through the years, she covered a variety of stories, including news and events in Richmond. In an effort to expand its East Bay coverage, the Tribune assigned Gottschalk to its new San Leandro bureau in 1978.
By then, she already was involved in the Action Line column as an assistant, ultimately taking it over in 1979 when previous columnist Cliff Pletschet was promoted to business editor. Through Action Line, Gottschalk helped readers contend with and solve problems often compounded by government or corporate bureaucracy.
The Tribune itself underwent many changes during Gottschalk’s tenure. Long owned and operated by the Knowland family when Gottschalk joined the paper, the Tribune was sold in 1977 to Combined Communications Corp., which merged two years later with Gannett Co., the East Coast-based nationwide media conglomerate (best known for later launching the USA Today national newspaper).
Tribune Editor Robert Maynard and his wife, Nancy Hicks Maynard, bought the paper (financed by a loan from Gannett) in 1983. Despite the quality of journalism published in the Tribune, Gottschalk and other staffers worked through much uncertainty as financial pressures mounted. Gannett and the Freedom Forum nonprofit foundation kept the paper temporarily afloat in 1991, but the company was sold to the Alameda Newspaper Group, a MediaNews Group division, the following year.
Gottschalk joined Inform Public Relations in 1993. Gottschalk is survived by cousin Daniel Fink, of Concord, and many friends. A well-attended service took place Jan. 5 at Gan Shalom Cemetery in Briones. Those wishing to attend the celebration-of-life event at Zio Fraedo’s (611 Gregory Lane in Pleasant Hill) should RSVP at informpr@sbcgobal.net or by calling Inform Public Relations/Dynamic Networking at 925-229-0440.
Mike McGreehan is a former sports writer for the Bay Area News Group who especially enjoys soccer and baseball.