Shannon Moffat
// from the San Francisco Chronicle // Shannon Moffat, Born in Pittsburgh, PA on August 23, 1927, she died peacefully in Palo Alto on January 23, 2009. A loving friend and parent, she had a notable 56-year career as a technical writer and editor. Raised in New York City and Lafayette, IN, Shannon attended Deerfield Academy (Class of 1945), served in the U.S. Navy from 1945-46 and attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1946 to 1948. She graduated from Amherst College in 1950 and worked as the assistant science editor for the publishing company, Henry Holt and Company, in New York City from 1950 to 1952. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1952-54), she moved to Ventura, CA to work for the Star-Free Press as a reporter and as the author of a weekly book column. She moved to Palo Alto in 1955 to work for the Palo Alto Times, initially as a general reporter, then as the education and science reporter. Her articles for the Times won several awards, including the First Prize from the Education Writers Association. In 1958-59 she was a Sloan-Rockefeller Fellow in the Advanced Science Writing Program of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She left the Palo Alto Times in 1959 to work as Information Officer for the Stanford Medical Center, where she worked until 1966. At that time, Shannon embarked on a free-lance career that lasted fifteen years, writing and editing books and articles, primarily about scientific subjects for lay and technical audiences. In 1981 she returned to Stanford University, preparing printed and online documents for users of Stanford's computer systems and editing the award-winning Graphics & Printing Bulletin. She worked from 1989-97 as a medical writer for Syntex. From 1997-2006, she was an assistant to Stanford Professor Emeritus, Dr. Carl Djerrasi. An lover of art, music, theatre and dance, Shannon also volunteered for many organizations, including TheatreWorks, Foothills Park, and the Stanford Library Associates. Shannon is survived by her sons Bruce and Ben, step-daughter Carrie Hickman, and grandchildren Valeria Moffat, and Court and Alex Hickman. A memorial service will be held on Friday Jan. 30 from 4 to 5:30 pm at Webster House on 401 Webster St. in Palo Alto. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to some of Shannon's favorite organizations: TheatreWorks, Berkeley Rep, and The National Women's Museum of the Arts.
03/31/09 Submitted by: 
James Demerin
